ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team, in conjunction with the Erie County Convention Center Authority, formally announced last month that its originally-scheduled games against The Ohio State University on January 2 and 3, 2015, will be played at the Erie Insurance Arena, and tickets are now on sale for the event.

Faceoff on Friday, January 2 is slated for 7:05 p.m. while the game on Saturday, January 3, will begin at 2:35 p.m. with the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters in town that night for a 7:00 p.m. faceoff against the Windsor Spitfires.

The first annual "Snowtown Throwdown" will be sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings and proceeds from the two-game series will benefit The Warming Center hosted at the Mental Health Association of Northwest Pennsylvania.

To purchase tickets, in either single-game, or two-game packages, contact the Erie Insurance Arena box office at (814) 452-4857 or visit the links listed below:

Tickets for Friday, Janaury 2, 2015 at 7:05 p.m.
Tickets for Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 2:35 p.m.
Two-day ticket packages

Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for children (16 and under) and senior citizens, while a family four-pack (two adults, two children) is $25. Two-day packages are $15 for adults and $10 for children (16 and under) and senior citizens. Groups of ten or more will also be given the $6 per ticket rate for admission to each contest.

"We are extremely excited to be hosting this event," said Mercyhurst head coach Rick Gotkin during last month's press conference. "To not only have a nationally-recognizable school like Ohio State come to Erie to play, but to be able to do so at the beautiful Erie Insurance Arena is unbelievable."

"It is really a thrill for us again to be working with Mercyhurst University on major hockey games," said Casey Wells, the Executive Director of the Erie Convention Center Authority. "We had a wonderful experience with the women's hockey national championships a couple of years ago and we are looking forward to working with the men on this showcase event against a major university."

The Mercyhurst men's hockey program last played at the then-Erie Civic Center on November 30, 1991 when, still a Division III member, it defeated Wisconsin-Stevens Point by a 6-2 final. Eight nights later, the Lakers played in their new home, the Mercyhurst Ice Center, in front of a standing-room only crowd against Rochester Institute of Technology. The then-Erie Civic Center served as one of four different "homes" for Mercyhurst until the MIC opened in 1991. The Lakers played 32 games at the old Erie Civic Center from when the program started in 1987 to that final game in November of 1991. Mercyhurst went 22-8-2 in those 32 games. The team also played seven games at the JMC Ice Arena and two each at the Meadville Area Recreation Ice Skating Rink and at Steele Hall on the campus of Fredonia State University.

The now-Erie Insurance Arena recently went through a $42 million expansion and renovation project and is the home of three sports teams – the Otters, the NBA D-League's Erie BayHawks, and the Professional Indoor Football League's Erie Explosion. The arena holds more than 6,000 for hockey games and increases to roughly 9,000 patrons for concerts and other events.

Gotkin added, "It should be, and we are confident that it will be, a great event for not just Mercyhurst University and for our men's hockey program, but for the entire Erie community."

For additional information, please contact David Leisering, Sports Information Director at Mercyhurst Unviersity, at (814) 824-2525 or via e-mail at dleisering@mercyhurst.edu.