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ERIE, Pa. - A little more than two months into the 2012-13 season, the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will finally be playing its first home games of the regular season this weekend. The Lakers will host the Yellow Jackets of American International College in a two-game weekend series. Friday's faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. while Saturday's tilt is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. from the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Mercyhurst is 32-5-1 lifetime against the Yellow Jackets, having outscored AIC 192-77 in those contests. However, AIC has won three of the last four meetings between the two schools, including a weekend sweep of the Lakers the last time they were in Erie during the 2010-11 season.

The Lakers (5-5-1, 5-2-0 AHA) are currently tied for fourth place in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings and are coming off a come-from-behind 5-4 win at Air Force last Friday. Mercyhurst fell behind 3-0 with just over five minutes elapsed in the opening period, but chipped away at the lead and got the eventual game-winning goal from senior Grant Blakey at the 9:52 mark of the third period to skate away with the victory. Junior Kyle Just and sophomore Chris Bodo each had a goal and two assists to lead the offense. Junior goaltender Jordan Tibbett came on in relief of senior Max Strang and stopped 24-of-25 shots to improve to 2-2 on the season.

Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets (3-7-3, 0-5-3 AHA) are looking for their first victory in conference play. AIC last played at Army last Saturday and suffered a 3-2 setback to the Black Knights to remain winless in the conference. Senior forward Adam Pleskach leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring with four goals and eight assists for 12 points. He is now just five points shy of becoming the program's second 100-point scorer since becoming a Division I program 15 seasons ago. Meanwhile, senior goaltender Ben Meisner became the program's all-time leader in saves at the Divsion I level. He has 2,965 career saves and needs 49 stops to become the program's all-time leader at any level.

On Friday night, the Lakers will team up with the Mercyhurst Veterans' Association to hold their annual Toys for Tots Teddy Bear Toss. Admittance to the game is free when you bring a new or gently used teddy bear. Fans will then be encouraged to toss their stuffed animal onto the ice when the Lakers score their first goal. All teddy bears collected will go directly to local needy children for the Christmas holiday through the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program.

THE SERIES
Mercyhurst leads the overall series with the Yellow Jackets 32-5-1 and has outscored American International 192-77 in those contests. However, AIC has won three of the past four meetings between the two schools, including a two-game sweep of the Lakers the last time they were in Erie, Pa. back on November 26 and November 27, 2010. AIC won those games 5-2 and 3-0. Last season, the Lakers and Yellow Jackets split in Massachusetts. AIC won the first game 3-2 before the Lakers won game two by a 7-2 final. Mercyhurst is 15-2-1 lifetime against AIC at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

THE COACHES
Rick Gotkin is in his 25th season with Mercyhurst and has posted a career record of 439-311-61. 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 27th all-time, among all coaches, with 439 career victories. He is three wins shy of passing John Dunham (Trinity 1974-2007) for 26th on the all-time list. He is 11th among active coaches with 811 career games coached. 

Gary Wright is in his 28th season at American International with a record of 283-516-62. He ranks 21st among all coaches, and ninth among active coaches with 861 career games coached. The Yellow Jackets have not reached double-digit victories since the 2002-03 season, when they went 10-20-2. Since joining the Division I ranks, AIC has reached ten wins only twice in 13 seasons.

ABOUT MERCYHURST
The Mercyhurst men's hockey team earned a 5-4 victory on the road at Air Force on Friday night for the team's only game of the weekend. The Lakers improved to 5-5-1 overall and 5-2-0 in conference play. Mercyhurst evened the all-time series with the Falcons at 10-10-2, but improved to 7-2-1 lifetime against Air Force at the Cadet Ice Arena. The Lakers improved to 4-2-0 in games played on Friday this season. It was Mercyhurst's final game of the team's 11 consecutive road games to start the season. The Lakers finished the 11-game road trip with a .500 record overall and currently sit in a tie for fourth place in the conference with 10 points (5-2-0) despite not having played a home game yet. Mercyhurst spotted Air Force a 3-0 lead just 5:19 into the game, but chipped away at the lead, and eventually won it on a goal by senior Grant Blakey at the 9:52 mark of the third period. It was Blakey's second game-winning goal of the season and fourth of his career. Blakey has now scored the game-winner in Mercyhurst's last two victories. He also scored the overtime winner at Bentley on Friday, November 23. Senior goaltender Max Strang allowed three goals on six shots in the opening 5:19 of the contest and then was pulled in favor of junior Jordan Tibbett. Tibbett slammed the door, allowing just a third period goal on 25 shots the rest of the way, allowing Mercyhurst to come from behind. Mercyhurst got goals from sophomore Chris Bodo and junior Kyle Just in the first period, and goals from sophomores Matthew Zay and Nardo Nagtzaam in the second period before Blakey's third period marker. Bodo and Just each had a goal and two assists to lead the Laker offense. Bodo's three points were a season-high and tied his career-high he accomplished twice as a freshman last season. Meanwhile, Just's three points marked a new career high. He had scored two points on five different occasions prior to Friday. Bodo now has four goals and three assists for seven points this season. All four of his goals have come on the power play and all seven of his points have come in the last six games. Bodo's four power play goals are tied for third in the country this season. Just has two goals and five assists for seven points this season, with five of his seven points coming in the last three games. Nagtzaam, who was second on the team in scoring as a freshman last season with 11 goals and 19 assists, scored his first goal of the season in the second period on Friday. He had been held to just four assists through the first ten games of the season. Mercyhurst finished the night 3-of-6 on the power play and is now 8-of-22 with the man advantage over the last four games (36.4%). The Lakers are now 11-of-45 on the power play this season (24.4%), which, at the moment, is sixth in the country, and second only to Bentley in the conference. Sophomore Ryan Misiak, who has one assist over the last five games, continues to lead the team in scoring with three goals and seven assists for 10 points. Bodo, Just, Blakey, and Zay are in a four-way tie for second on the team with seven points, while sophomore Daniel Bahntge, junior Nick Jones, and senior Paul Chiasson have six points apiece. With Tibbett's performance on Friday, he evened his record at 2-2-0 on the season, lowered his goals against average to 2.14, and upped his save percentage to .937 this season. Friday's contest will mark Mercyhurst's second annual Teddy Bear Toss. Fans will receive free admission to the game when they bring a new or gently used teddy bear to the contest. Fans will then be encouraged to toss the teddy bear onto the ice when the Lakers score their first goal. All teddy bears collected will go directly to local needy children for the Christmas holiday through the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program.

ABOUT AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL
The American International College men's ice hockey team dropped a 3-2 decision at Army on Saturday night. The Yellow Jackets move to 3-7-3 overall and are 0-5-3 in Atlantic Hockey. AIC got on the board first netting a power play goal just 40 seconds into the second period. Junior Blake Peake buried a shot off a pass from senior Adam Pleskach. The Black Knights knotted the contest at the end of the second period, while scoring two more goals in the third period to earn a 3-1 lead over the Yellow Jackets. AIC would score one more goal at 16:49 when freshman Chris Porter found the back of the net off a pass from senior Nick Grasso and classmate Steve Mele. Senior goaltender Ben Meisner made 25 saves in the loss.