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ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will host the Air Force Academy on Friday and Saturday, February 8 and 9, in a pivotal Atlantic Hockey Association series. Faceoffs, both nights, from the Mercyhurst Ice Center are scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Three points separate the Lakers, who currently sit in second place with 25 points, and the Falcons, who enter tied for third with Holy Cross, with 22 points. The all-time series is tied 10-10-2 between the two teams. The Lakers defeated Air Force earlier this season, back on November 30, by a 5-4 final in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Falcons jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening period, but the Lakers stormed back, and eventually got the game-winning goal from senior Grant Blakey midway through the third period.

The Lakers (14-10-2, 12-6-1 AHA) enter the weekend series with the Falcons in sole possession of second place in the conference standings. Mercyhurst is on a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) to get its record to a season-high four games above the .500 mark. During the streak, Mercyhurst has outscored its opponents 22-5, including back-to-back 8-1 victories over Army last Saturday and at Robert Morris this past Tuesday.

The 16 goals over the last two games are the most by a Laker team in back-to-back contests since scoring 17 goals in a weekend sweep at American International on December 5 and 6, 2008 (6-3 and 11-1). The two-game total is tied for the fourth-most goals scored by a Laker squad since joining Division I at the start of the 1999-2000 season. The Mercyhurst Division I record is 18 goals scored against Holy Cross (W 6-2) and Bentley (W 12-0) on October 27 and 28, 2000.

Sophomore Ryan Misiak leads the Lakers in scoring with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points. Fellow sophomore Matthew Zay follows close behind with 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points. Junior Daniel O'Donoghue (25 points), senior Paul Chiasson (23 points), and sophomore Daniel Bahntge (20 points) have also reached 20 points this season. Four more Lakers have also reached double figures in scoring this season - senior Grant Blakey (19 points), junior Nick Jones (18 points), sophomore Chris Bodo (17 points), and junior Kyle Just (12 points).

Senior Max Strang has been sensational as of late and sports an 11-5-1 overall record and a 10-3-1 mark against conference opponents this season. Over his last 11 decisions, covering 638:21, Strang is 8-2-1 with a 1.60 goals against average and a .948 save percentage (313-of-330). He has lowered his goals against average from 3.81 to 2.38 and upped his save percentage from .891 to .927 during the stretch.

Air Force (11-10-6, 9-6-4 AHA) enters the series having earned just one point in a home weekend series against 11th-place American International. The two teams played to a 2-2 tie last Friday night, before the Yellow Jackets knocked off the Falcons 2-1 on Saturday night, just 18 seconds into overtime. Air Force's seven-game unbeaten streak was snapped on Saturday with the overtime loss.

Despite getting 91 shots in the series, Air Force scored just three goals. Kyle De Laurell and Chad Demers scored on Friday. Demers scored with 2:51 left in the third period on Friday to force the 2-2 overtime tie. On Saturday, Ryan Timar scored Air Force's only goal. Junior goaltender Jason Torf made 45 saves in the series and became just the 10th goalie in school history to reach the 2,000 save plateau. He currently ranks 10th on the career list with 2,019 career saves.

THE SERIES
Mercyhurst and Air Force have met 22 previous times with the all-time series tied at 10-10-2. The Lakers and Falcons met earlier this season with Mercyhurst rallying for a 5-4 victory over Air Force at the Cadet Ice Arena. Air Force leads the series in games played at the Mercyhurst Ice Center - 5-3-1. Seventeen of the team's 22 meetings have been decided by two goals or less. In the last meeting at the Ice Center, the Lakers defeated Air Force 3-2 (November 12, 2011).

THE COACHES
Rick Gotkin is in his 25th season with Mercyhurst and has posted a career record of 448-316-62. 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 826 career games coached. 

Frank Serratore is in his 16th season at Air Force with a record of 266-260-57 record (583 games). He is the winningest coach in the history of Air Force hockey, having led Air Force to five AHA championships and five NCAA Tournaments in the last six years. In his 20th season as a collegiate head coach, he  has an overall record of 315-353-66 (734 games).

ABOUT MERCYHURST
On Tuesday, Mercyhurst scored eight goals for the second straight game, getting goals from eight different players Tuesday night, in an 8-1 rout over the Colonials of Robert Morris at the 84 Lumber Arena. The win extended the Lakers' unbeaten streak to four straight games and moved their record to a season-high four games over .500 at 14-10-2 overall. More importantly, Mercyhurst picked up two crucial points in the Atlantic Hockey standings and now owns a 12-6-1 conference mark, good for 25 points. Robert Morris dropped to 14-10-2 overall and 9-9-1 in the conference standings. The Lakers are nine points behind conference-leading Niagara and are now three points ahead of third-place Air Force, whom the Lakers will play at the Mercyhurst Ice Center this Friday and Saturday nights. The 16 goals over the last two games are the most by a Laker team in back-to-back contests since scoring 17 goals in a weekend sweep at American International on December 5 and 6, 2008 (6-3 and 11-1). The two-game total is tied for the fourth-most goals scored by a Laker squad since joining Division I at the start of the 1999-2000 season. The Mercyhurst Division I record is 18 goals scored against Holy Cross (W 6-2) and Bentley (W 12-0) on October 27 and 28, 2000. During the Lakers' four-game unbeaten streak, Mercyhurst has outscored its opponents by a 22-5 margin. Mercyhurst got goals from seniors Paul Chiasson and Grant Blakey, juniors Daniel O'Donoghue and Trent Frey, and sophomores Daniel Bahntge, Chris Bodo, Ryan Misiak, and Matthew Zay in the victory. Zay finished the night with a goal and two assists, while five Lakers had two points on the night - O'Donoghue (one goal, one assist), Misiak (one goal, one assist), junior Kyle Just (two assists), junior Nick Jones (two assists), and sophomore Edward DeWald, who recorded his first career multiple-point game with two helpers. Last Tuesday, in the team's makeup game due to a water main break that shut down the Mercyhurst campus, the Lakers trailed 2-1 early in the third period before scoring the final four goals of the night to defeat Canisius 5-2. Senior forward Paul Chiasson became the 15th player in the Division I era at Mercyhurst to record 100 career points with his goal at the 5:53 mark of the third period. The goal was also Chiasson's 50th of his career and also proved to be his seventh career game-winning goal. Sophomore forward Matthew Zay scored a career-high four points (one goal, three assists) in the victory. Zay's previous high in scoring was three points, all assists, in a 7-2 win over American International on December 8 of this season. Mercyhurst and Army would play to a 1-1 tie last Friday, moving the Lakers to 2-0-2 in overtime games this season and is unbeaten in its last 10 games decided in the extra period (4-0-6). On Saturday, sophomore Ryan Misiak scored a natural hat trick in the second period, in the span of 10:48. It was the third hat trick by a Laker player this season, joining sophomore Daniel Bahntge, who scored three goals in the Lakers' 7-2 win over American International on December 8, and junior Daniel O'Donoghue, who accomplished the feat in a 5-2 win at Maine on January 5. Misiak's previous high in goals was two in Mercyhurst's 3-1 win at Robert Morris on February 10, 2012. He also added an assist against the Black Knights for a career-high four points, breaking his previous record of two he had accomplished 10 previous times, including seven this season. All told, seven different Lakers had at least two points on the night, led by Misiak's four. Chiasson and Jones tied career-highs with three points, while Bahntge also added three points. Blakey, Zay, and O'Donoghue chipped in with two points each. Mercyhurst's eight goals on the night established a season high and marked the most goals scored in a game since the Lakers scoried eight times in an 8-5 win at Niagara on February 4, 2011. Mercyhurst held a 45-15 shot advantage over the Black Knights for the contest. The 15 shots allowed by Mercyhurst were the fewest the Lakers had given up since November 27, 2010, when AIC had just 15 shots on goal. Mercyhurst moved to 19-1-2 lifetime against Army at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Chiasson has moved into 12th place on the Lakers' Division I list in scoring with 105 points. He passed Matt Pierce (101; 2005-09), Peter Rynshoven (101; 2000-04), and T.J. Kemp (100; 2001-05) and is now just two points from passing Scott Reynolds (106; 2002-06) for 11th place. Mercyhurst has nine players with at least a dozen points this season and five players have scored at least 20. Misiak now has sole possession of the team lead in scoring with 29 points. Zay is a close second with 28 points, followed by O'Donoghue (25), Chiasson (23), and Bahntge (20). With the victories, head coach Rick Gotkin now has 448 career victories, three shy of becoming the 26th head coach, at any division, to record 450 career wins. Sophomore Chris Bodo leads the nation with eight power play goals, while O'Donoghue is tied for the national lead with three shorthanded tallies. All told, Mercyhurst has seven shorthanded goals this season, tying them with Robert Morris for the most in the country. The seven shorthanded goals this season are the most by a Laker team since scoring eight during the 2009-10 campaign.

ABOUT AIR FORCE
AIC took three points in the series with Air Force last weekend at Cadet Ice Arena. The teams skated to a 2-2 overtime tie on Friday while AIC won 2-1 in overtime on Saturday. Air Force's seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2), the second longest in the nation, ended with the overtime loss on Saturday. Air Force had killed 11 straight opponent power plays before AIC scored in the first period on Saturday. Air Force was 0-for-9 on the power play in the AIC series. Air Force has played in seven games this season that have been decided by one goal and Air Force is just 1-6 in those games. All seven games for conference contests  Despite getting 91 shots in the series, Air Force scored just three goals. Kyle De Laurell and Chad Demers scored on Friday. Demers scored with 2:51 left in the third period on Friday to force the 2-2 overtime tie. On Saturday, Ryan Timar scored Air Force's only goal. Junior goaltender Jason Torf made 45 saves in the series and became just the 10th goalie in school history to reach the 2,000 save plateau. He currently ranks 10th on the career list with 2,019 career saves. In the last 10 games, Air Force has fired 34 or more shots nine times. In the last eight games, Air Force has averaged 39.9 shots on goal. Senior Kyle De Laurell had a goal on Friday and now has seven goals in his last eight games and has a point in eight of the last 10. Senior Stephen Carew had an assist on Friday and has a point in seven of his last 10 games. Sophomore Cole Gunner had an assist on Friday and has a point in four of the last five games. Sophomore Chad Demers had a goal on Friday and has scored a point in five of the last six games.