Complete Weekend Notes

Live Stats (Friday)
Live Video (Friday)

Live Stats (Saturday)
Live Video (Saturday)

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team enters the critical four-game conclusion to the regular season right in the thick of things for a top four spot in the Atlantic Hockey Associaton standings and a corresponding first-round bye in the AHA Tournament. It all begins this weekend with a home-and-home series with the conference-leading, and 16th-ranked, Purple Eagles of Niagara University. Friday's contest is slated for 7:05 p.m. from the Dwyer Arena in Niagara Falls, while the teams will convene at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Saturday, also for a 7:05 p.m. start.

Mercyhurst is 4-9-1 lifetime against Niagara, including a 2-1 loss to the Purple Eagles in the opening game of the regular season back on October 13.

The Purple Eagles (19-6-5, 18-3-2 AHA) have already clinched the regular season title, but the Lakers are right in the middle of the pack for a first-round bye for the upcoming Atlantic Hockey Association tournament. The Lakers (14-13-3, 12-9-2 AHA) have stubbed their toe in the last four games, going 0-3-1 against Air Force and RIT over the past two weekends, with all four games being played on home ice. However, Mercyhurst remains third in the standings with 26 points, three points behind second-place Air Force. Things get real interesting after that, with the Lakers two points ahead of RIT, Connecticut, and Holy Cross, who are all tied for fourth. Mercyhurst is three points ahead of seventh-place Robert Morris, and four points ahead of Canisius and Bentley, who are tied for eighth.

Mercyhurst was swept last weekend against long-time rival RIT, losing by the scores of 3-2, in overtime, and 5-3. Friday's loss was the first overtime loss for Mercyhurst since game two of the Atlantic Hockey Association at Connecticut on March 12, 2011. The Lakers had been 4-0-7 in games decided in overtime since that loss nearly two years ago. Saturday's setback capped off an 0-3-1 homestand for the Lakers, the team's worst stretch at home since losing four straight games at the Ice Center from November 26 to December 11, 2010.

Despite all of that, Mercyhurst still controls its own destiny for a first-round bye and home ice in the Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinals, which are scheduled from March 15 through March 17.

Sophomores Ryan Misiak (13 goals, 19 assists) and Matthew Zay (12 goals, 20 assists) lead the Lakers in scoring with 32 points apiece. The two combined for just 33 points as freshmen a year ago. Junior Daniel O'Donoghue is third on the team with a career-high 28 points (9 goals, 19 assists). The Lakers have nine players with at least 15 points, with eight of those players scoring at least 20. Senior Max Strang has seen most of the time in goal and has posted an 11-8-2 overall record, a 2.49 goals against average, and a .924 save percentage.

With its split last weekend against Robert Morris, Niagara clinched its first regular season title since joining the league in 2010-11. Niagara enters with plenty of firepower as well, with junior Ryan Murphy leading the Purple Eagles with 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists). Senior Giancarlo Iuorio, who missed ten games due to injury, returned last weekend with seven points in the two games against the Colonials and leads the team with 16 goals. He has 27 points in 20 games this season. Junior Carson Chubak is among the nation's leaders in several categories between the pipes. He is 19-4-5 with a 1.76 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. He has posted six shutouts this season.

THE SERIES
Niagara leads the overall series against Mercyhurst, 9-4-1. The two teams met on Mercyhurst's opening game of the regular season on October 13 at the Dwyer Arena, with the Purple Eagles skating away with a 2-1 victory. Ryan Misiak scored Mercyhurst's only goal while Max Strang stopped 37-of-39 Niagara shots in defeat. Last season, Mercyhurst went 1-2 against the Purple Eagles, losing 4-3 on home ice on December 10 and 6-1, also in Erie, on February 3. The Lakers responded the following night in Niagara Falls with a 3-2 victory. Niagara has outscored Mercyhurst 56-42 in the 14 meetings between the two schools.

THE COACHES
Rick Gotkin is in his 25th season with Mercyhurst and has posted a career record of 448-319-63. 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 26th all-time, among all coaches, with 448 career victories and needs two wins to become the 26th coach in history, at any division, to reach 450 career victories. Next up on the career wins list - Murray Armstrong, who won 463 games at Denver from 1956-57 until 1976-77. Gotkin is 11th among active coaches with 830 career games coached. 

Dave Burkholder is in his 12th season with the Purple Eagles of Niagara and has guided the program to a 193-160-41 overall record. Burkholder already boasts two CHA Tournament Championships, two CHA regular-season titles, a pair of CHA Coach of the Year selections and two trips to the NCAA postseason. He has coached two Hobey Baker Award finalists in Joe Tallari and Paul Zanette and the program's first All-American (Zanette). Burkholder also mentored six CHA Player of the Year Award winners in Tallari, Barret Ehgoetz, Jeff Van Nynatten, Sean Bentivoglio, Juliano Pagliero and Zanette.

ABOUT MERCYHURST
The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team dropped a pair of close contests at the hands of RIT on Friday and Saturday, losing by the scores of 3-2 in overtime and 5-3. The Lakers dropped to 14-13-3 overall and 12-9-2 in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings. Mercyhurst dropped to 15-30-6 lifetime against the Tigers, including just 6-14-3 since RIT became a Division I program. On Friday night, Mercyhurst jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by sophomore Chris Bodo - his team-leading 14th goal of the season. RIT would score the next two goals before junior Daniel O'Donoghue tied the game at 2-2 with his ninth goal of the season midway through the second. The Tigers then scored 67 seconds into overtime, sending Mercyhurst to its first overtime loss since game two of the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals at Connecticut on March 12, 2011. The Lakers had been 4-0-7 in overtime games since the loss nearly two years ago. On Saturday, the Tigers raced out to a 2-0 lead after the opening period, before the Lakers responded with three second period goals to hold a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. Sophomore Zac Frischmon, sophomore Matthew Zay, and sophomore Ryan Misiak had the Laker goals. But, RIT scored the final three goals of the night, including two goals in 24 seconds with under a minute left in regulation, to sweep the Lakers. Mercyhurst dropped to 11-2-1 on the season when leading after two periods. Frischmon's goal on Saturday was just his second of the season and his fourth in 67 career games. He entered the weekend with three points on the season, but had a goal and an assist over the weekend. After going on a four-game unbeaten streak, outscoring its opponents 22-5, Mercyhurst is now on a four-game winless streak, with all four games played on home ice. The 0-3-1 stretch in Erie marks the worst four-game stretch at home for Mercyhurst since losing four straight home games from November 26 to December 11, 2010. Misiak and Zay continue to lead the team with 32 points apiece, after combining to score 33 points as freshmen a year ago. O'Donoghue is right behind with a career-high 28 points. Mercyhurst has nine players with at least 15 points, while eight of them have scored at least 20. The Atlantic Hockey Association standings continue to tighten up with just two weekends of action left in the regular season. The Lakers will be in a fight over the final four games to maintain a top four spot in the standings and a corresponding first round bye in the AHA tournament. Mercyhurst, currently in third place with 26 points, now holds just a two-point lead over Holy Cross, Connecticut, and RIT, who are tied for fourth with 24 points. The Lakers are only three points ahead of seventh-place Robert Morris, and just four points ahead of Canisius and Bentley, who are tied for eighth place. The Lakers' four-game fight to the finish begins with a home-and-home series against conference-leading Niagara next Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23. Mercyhurst will be in Niagara Falls on Friday night for a 7:05 p.m. start, before the two teams convene at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Saturday. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Mercyhurst is just 4-9-1 lifetime against the Purple Eagles, including a 2-1 loss in the opening game of this season back on October 13.

ABOUT NIAGARA
The Niagara Purple Eagles (19-6-5; 18-3-2 AHA) earned the 2012-13 Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Title with the weekend split against Robert Morris. This is the team's first AHA regular-season title since the program entered into the conference in 2010-11, and their first conference crown since the 2006-07 season when Niagara earned the former College Hockey America regular-season title. Niagara remained on the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, this week sitting in the 15th position which is the longest the program has been ranked in the top-15 poll since the 99-00 season when the squad was ranked for three straight weeks. The Purple Eagles have been ranked a program-best 13 consecutive weeks on the USCHO.com Poll. Niagara split a weekend series against Robert Morris, pulling out a thrilling 4-3 victory on Friday at the Dwyer Arena before dropping a 6-5 overtime decision to the Colonials on Saturday. The victory on Friday extended the Purple Eagles home ice beaten streak to a nation-best 19 games which is three shy of the program record. In his first game back since sustaining an injury in January, Giancarlo Iuorio recorded his second hat trick of the season on Friday, including the game-winner with 53 seconds remaining in the contests, and added a goal and a trio of assists the following day for a seven-point weekend. Ryan Murphy (2-1-3) and Hugo Turcotte (0-3-3) each ad a three point weekend, while Dan Weiss (1-1-2), Patrick Divjak (0-2-2) and Kevin Ryan (0-2-2) added two points each in the pair of games. Niagara returns to action this week when the Purple Eagles battle Mercyhurst at Dwyer Arena on Feb. 22, before heading to Erie, Pa. on Feb. 23. In 23 conference games this season, Niagara has outscored its opponents by a 81-45 margin, the fewest goals allowed in the Atlantic Hockey Association. The Purple Eagles hold the second best conference record (19-3-2) in NCAA Division I hockey, as Quinnipiac holds a 15-1-2 mark in ECAC play. Ryan Murphy is the team leader in points with 30, scoring a career-high 14 goals which is second on the Purple Eagles, and has contributed a career-high 16 assists for the season. Giancarlo Iuorio is tops on the team and 10th in the nation in goals (16). Marc Zanette (5 goals; 6 assists) and Patrick Divjak (4 goals; 8 assists) have combined for 23 points in the previous 13 games. Carsen Chubak is tied for fourth in the nation in save percentage (.942), and seventh in the nation in goals-against average (1.76), while leading the nation in shutouts (6).