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ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will play its first conference game of the 2013-14 campaign on Saturday night when it hosts the Falcons of Air Force at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Mercyhurst trails Air Force in the all-time series 10-11-3 and is just 3-6-2 lifetime against the Falcons at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Last season, the teams split three games down the middle (1-1-1) with Mercyhurst picking up its victory in Colorado Springs. The Falcons returned the favor last February with a win and a tie against the Lakers in Erie.

The Lakers (1-5-1, 0-0-0 AHA) are coming off a weekend series at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, where the team earned a tie in the two games. Mercyhurst led both games after the second period, but allowed five third period goals in the weekend to manage just a tie. On Friday, Mercyhurst led 4-1 midway through the second and held a 4-2 lead heading to the third. But, the Nanooks rallied for three goals in the third to stun the Lakers, 5-4. On Saturday, Mercyhurst led 2-1 after forty minutes, but Alaska scored the next two goals to take a 3-2 advantage. However, junior forward Matthew Zay scored the game-tying goal midway through the third for the final goal of the night.

It was Mercyhurst's first-ever non-loss in the state of Alaska. Mercyhurst is now 0-11-1 lifetime in the state of Alaska (0-6-1 against Alaska and 0-5-0 against Alaska-Anchorage).

Mercyhurst enters 1-5-1 overall but has played just one game at home and the five opponents the Lakers have competed against have a combined 19-7-4 record (#1 Minnesota (5-0-1), #17 Clarkson (6-1-1), RV Ferris State (3-2-0), Merrimack (2-3-0), and RV Alaska (3-1-2)).

One year after leading the team, and the conference in scoring, Zay leads the Lakers again through seven games this season. The junior from Glendale, New York has three goals and four assists for seven points, one point ahead of senior Daniel O'Donoghue, who had four points against the Nanooks last weekend. Zay has the team lead, or is tied for the team lead, in goals (3), assists (4), points (7), shots on goal (27), power play goals (1), game-tying goals (1), and plus/minus (+2). Meanwhile, O'Donoghue has three goals and three assists and is now 18 points shy of becoming the 16th player in school history to record 100 points in the Division I era at Mercyhurst.

Senior defenseman Randy Cure currently leads the country in blocked shots with 21 after posting nine in the two games in Alaska last weekend. Mercyhurst, as a team, has 108 blocked shots in seven games, second only to Boston University's 111 in the country.

Junior goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant seemingly has taken over the reins in goal after starting both games last weekend in Alaska. In five games, four starts, Sarjeant is 1-2-1 with a 2.99 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. Meanwhile, redshirt junior Jordan Tibbett has struggled early, posting an 0-3-0 record with a 5.63 goals against average and an .861 save percentage.

Mercyhurst has played its opponents to a 5-5 tie in the first period of its games this season. However, the Lakers have been outscored 24-11 in the second and third periods.

Air Force (4-2-0, 2-0-0 AHA) will be at Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday night before making the three-hour drive to Erie for Saturday night's contest. The Falcons enter the weekend on a four-game winning streak, all at home, after losing a pair of games to open the season against Alaska (6-1) and Alaska-Anchorage (4-2). Air Force swept a weekend series against Penn State (5-2, 3-1) before opening conference play last weekend with a pair of victories against Canisius (3-2) and Niagara (7-4).

The four-game winning streak by the Falcons is their longest since winning five straight in the middle of the 2011-12 campaign

Chad Demers, the reigning AHA Player of the Week, leads Air Force in scoring with two goals and seven assists for nine points. Cole Gunner, the reigning AHA Player of the Month, has five goals and three assists for eight points. Two of Gunner's five goals have been game-winners.

Jason Torf has seen most of the time in goal and is 4-2-0 with a 2.87 goals against average and a .897 save percentage.

After Saturday's contest, the Lakers will be back at the Mercyhurst Ice Center next Friday, November 8 for a conference game against longtime rival, RIT. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.