Complete Game Notes

WATERTOWN, Mass. - It's starting to sound like a broken record.

The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will be back on the road this Friday and Saturday, November 23 and 24 with a pair of contests against Atlantic Hockey Association-rival Bentley University. Faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and 4:05 p.m. respectively. These will mark games #9 and #10 of the Lakers' 11-game road trip to start the 2012-13 season.

Mercyhurst is 27-10-6 lifetime against Bentley, including 12-4-2 in Watertown, Massachusetts. The Lakers went 1-0-1 against the Falcons in a weekend series at home last season, playing to a 0-0 overtime tie before earning a 2-1 victory the following night. Senior goaltender Max Strang stopped 80-of-81 Bentley shots (.988 save percentage) over that two-game series, including 48 saves in the overtime tie.

The Lakers (3-4-1, 3-1-0 AHA) saw their four-game unbeaten streak come to an end last weekend with a pair of losses at non-conference opponent, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Mercyhurst got a power play goal from senior Paul Chiasson and a shorthanded goal from sophomore Matthew Zay in Friday's 4-2 setback to the Engineers. Sophomore Chris Bodo scored the Lakers' lone goal, a power play tally, in Saturday's 4-1 loss.

Mercyhurst dropped to 0-3-1 on the season against teams from outside of Atlantic Hockey.

Meanwhile, Bentley (5-4-0, 4-2-0 AHA) is coming off a pair of conference victories last weekend, defeating American International 7-3 on Friday night before knocking off Connecticut 3-1 on Saturday. Brett Gensler was named the Co-Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week for his performance and currently leads the nation by averaging 2.11 points per game. Meanwhile, Matt Bloomquist was named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week.

You can follow all of the action from the Ryan Arena using the following links:

Live Stats
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THE SERIES
Mercyhurst leads the overall series with the Falcons 27-10-6. Mercyhurst took three of a possible four points during a weekend series last season in Erie. The teams played to a 0-0 overtime tie before the Lakers won game two by a 2-1 final. The Lakers are 12-4-2 against Bentley in Massachusetts, but are just 5-4-2 on the road against the Falcons over the last 11 meetings. The teams split in Watertown during the 2010-11 season - Mercyhurst posted an 8-2 win before suffering a 3-2 setback the following night.

THE COACHES
Rick Gotkin is in his 25th season with Mercyhurst and has posted a career record of 437-310-61. He is the only coach in NCAA history to take the same program to the NCAA Division III, Division II, and Division I national tournament. Gotkin is also the all-time winningest coach for any Mercyhurst program in school history. He took over for Fred Lane, who coached Mercyhurst's inaugural season in 1987-88. Gotkin is tied for 27th all-time, among all coaches, with Bill Wilkinson with 437 career victories. He is 11th among active coaches with 808 career games coached. 

Ryan Soderquist is in his 11th season with the Falcons and is the all-time winningest coach, and longest-tenured coach, in program history. He has posted an overall record of 130-192-42 at Bentley. Last season, Soderquist won the Atlantic Hockey Association Coach of the Year Award finishing 16-16-8 overall and 13-7-7 in conference play. The 16 victories last season were the second-highest total of his tenure. Soderquist is also the all-time leader in goals and points at Bentley.

ABOUT MERCYHURST
The Mercyhurst men's hockey team dropped a pair of non-conference games at Rensselaer on Friday and Saturday, losing by the scores of 4-2 and 4-1. Mercyhurst entered the weekend on a four-game unbeaten streak but saw the streak come to an end at the hands of the Engineers. Mercyhurst is now 2-6-0 lifetime against Rensselaer. On Friday, Mercyhurst fell behind 3-0 early in the third period but got goals from senior Paul Chiasson and sophomore Matthew Zay to pull within one. RPI would score late to seal the victory. Senior Max Strang was saddled with the loss, stopping 19 shots. On Saturday, Mercyhurst took its first lead of the weekend on a goal by sophomore Chris Bodo in the second period. But, RPI stormed back with four unanswered goals, including three in the third period. For Bodo, it was his first goal of the season. He has two points in his last three games after being held scoreless in his first four contests. He was tied for third on the team in scoring last season with 25 points. Junior Jordan Tibbett took the loss on Saturday, stopping 25 RPI shots. Mercyhurst was 2-for-9 on the power play over the weekend and is now just 5-for-32 on the season with the man advantage. Zay's goal on Friday was his first career shorthanded goal and the second of the season for the Lakers. Mercyhurst had two shorthanded goals all of last year. Freshman defenseman Justin Stevens had an assist on Friday for his first collegiate point. He became the first freshman on the roster to register a point this season. Since joining the Division I ranks in 1999-2000, Mercyhurst is 16-81-10 (.196 winning percentage) against teams out of conference. Sophomore Ryan Misiak was held scoreless over the weekend - the first time that he has not registered at least a point this year. He had an eight-game point scoring streak, dating back to last season, entering the weekend. Mercyhurst will play games #9 and #10 of its 11-game road trip to start the season next Friday and Saturday against Bentley. Mercyhurst is 27-10-6 lifetime against the Falcons including a 0-0 overtime tie and a 2-1 win in Erie last season.

ABOUT BENTLEY
Bentley had a four point weekend, recording a road win at AIC 7-3 Friday night and beating UConn at home 3-1. Saturday night's game saw Brett Gensler (St. Charles, Mo.) break a 1-1 tie with 2:44 remaining in the 3rd period to send the Falcons to the victory. Gensler added an empty-net goal with 44 seconds left to seal the win. The game was scoreless until UConn's Sean Ambrosie gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead 40 seconds into the third. But defenseman Matt Blomquist (Blaine, Minn.) netted a power play goal less than three minutes later to tie the score, his first career goal and one of his three points on the night. Junior goalie Branden Komm (Williamsville, N.Y.) played well and turned away 28 shots. The Falcons are now 3-0 at home and have outscored their opponents 19-3. In Friday's win, seven different players scored as Bentley scored at least seven goals for the third time this season. The line of Gensler, Alex Grieve (Calgary, Alberta) and Justin Breton (Fitchburg, Mass.) each had one goal and two assists. Freshman goalie Gabe Antoni (Lansdale, Pa.) was given his first career start and made 29 saves. Gensler was named the AHA Co-Player of the Week while Bloomquist was named the AHA Rookie of the Week. Gensler leads the nation in points per game (2.11), is 2nd in goals per game (0.89) and 1st in assists per game (1.22). He has at least two points in all but one game this season and is closing in on 100 career points (93). Steve Weinstein (Los Angeles, Calif.) is currently tied for 2nd  in the nation in points per game among defenseman (1.11), and Blomquist is tied for 4th (1.00). Blomquist is tied for 4th in points per game among rookies. Bentley is tied for 2nd in the nation in scoring offense (4.33) and is 2nd in power play percentage (29.4). Bentley returns to the ice on Friday when it opens a series at home against Mercyhurst. The Lakers took last year's series 1-0-1. The teams split the last time they played at Ryan Arena during the 2010-11 season.