ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team returns to action this Friday and Saturday, October 24 and 25, when it hosts Hockey East-member, Merrimack College, at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. both nights.
Mercyhurst and Merrimack have only played against each other twice in the all-time series with each team winning a game in a weekend series in North Andover, Massachusetts last season. The Lakers took the first-ever meeting between the two programs last October, 3-2, on a goal by
Nick Jones with 34 seconds left in regulation. The Warriors earned the split the following night with a 5-2 victory.
The Lakers (1-1-0, 1-1-0 AHA) opened the season two weekends ago, jumping right into conference action with a series at Air Force. After suffering a 5-1 loss in the season opener, Mercyhurst bounced back with a 4-2 win on October 11, getting goals from four different players and 40 saves from senior
Jimmy Sarjeant.
Freshman
Jonathan Charbonneau was named the AHA's Co-Rookie of the Week after tallying a goal and an assist in the game two victory. Meanwhile, senior
Matthew Zay recorded three assists in the win, putting him within one point of becoming the 17th player in the Division I era at Mercyhurst to record 100 career points.
The Warriors (3-0-0, 1-0-0 HEA) enter the weekend series as one of just ten teams in the country, that has started play, without a blemish on their record. All three of Merrimack's victories (two against Holy Cross, one against Connecticut) have been decided by one goal.
OPENING WEEKEND ...Mercyhurst jumped right into conference play to start the 2014-15 season as it traveled to Colorado to square off against the Air Force Academy. The Falcons defeated the Lakers 5-1 in the season opener on Friday, October 11, before Mercyhurst rebounded with a 4-2 win the following night to earn the split. The Lakers moved to 12-14-3 lifetime against Air Force and 8-5-1 at the Cadet Ice Arena.
SPREAD IT OUT ...The Lakers scored five goals in their series against Air Force with five different players lighting the lamp. Senior
Chris Bodo scored the only Mercyhurst goal in the opening night loss while senior
Nardo Nagtzaam, junior
Alec Shields, sophomore
Kyle Dutra, and freshman
Jonathan Charbonneau all tallied on Saturday. Shields notched his second collegiate game-winning goal while Charbonneau's marker was the first of his career.
WELCOME TO COLLEGE HOCKEY ...Freshman
Jonathan Charbonneau didn't take long to make his presence felt in the Mercyhurst lineup. After being held off the scoresheet in the opener, Charbonneau had a goal and an assist in the Lakers' 4-2 win at Air Force in game two of the series. For his efforts, the St-Colombant, Quebec-native earned Co-Freshman of the Week honors from the Atlantic Hockey Association. Meanwhile, defenseman
Tyler Enns recorded an assist and was a +3 in his only game of the weekend on Saturday.
Zach Todd was the only other true freshman to play over the weekend but did not register a point.
ALMOST THERE ...Senior
Matthew Zay recorded three assists in the 4-2 win over Air Force to put him at 99 career points. He needs one point to become the 17th player in the Division I era at Mercyhurst to reach the century mark. In 114 career games, Zay has 35 goals and 64 assists. Seniors
Ryan Misiak and
Daniel Bahntge were held scoreless at Air Force and are still five and nine points away respectively.
WILD PERIOD ...A total of 12 goals were scored at the Cadet Ice Arena in the season-opening weekend between Mercyhurst and Air Force. Of the 12 goals, eight were scored in the second period, with six of those coming in the span of 3:21 of game action. On Friday night, Air Force snapped a 1-1 tie with three goals in the span of 1:18 late in the second period to break the game open. Mercyhurst returned the favor on Saturday night, scoring three goals in 2:03 to also break a 1-1 deadlock. Mercyhurst's four goals on Saturday all came in the second period and were scored in the span of 9:03.
PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF ...During Mercyhurst's playoff run last season,
Alec Shields emerged as an offensive threat in the Laker lineup. After recording two assists in his first 18 games last season, Shields had five points in his last four games, with four of those points coming in three playoff contests. His first collegiate goal was a game-winner in game two of the AHA Quarterfinals against Holy Cross. He also scored a pair of goals in the AHA Semifinal loss to Canisius.
In the first weekend of the 2014-15 season, Shields had the game-winning goal and added an assist in the split with Air Force. Dating back to last season, Shields is currently on a six-game point-scoring streak.
EXHIBITION OPENER ...Mercyhurst opened the 2014-15 season on October 5 with a 6-1 victory over Ryerson University of Toronto at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. After a scoreless first period, the Lakers scored four times in the second, three of which came during a 75-second span midway through the frame. Freshman
Jonathan Charbonneau put Mercyhurst on the board with a power play goal before Ryerson tied it at 1-1 just over three minutes later. Seniors
Ryan Misiak,
Zac Frischmon, and Ed DeWald scored 75 seconds apart to give the Lakers a 4-1 lead after two. Sophomore
Philippe Drouin and
Stephen Hrehoriak closed out the scoring in the third. Misiak led the offense with a goal and three assists, while Charbonneau, DeWald, and Drouin had one goal and one assist each. Sophomore
Spencer Bacon started in goal and stopped 14-of-15 shots in nearly 30 minutes. Freshman
Brandon Wildung closed out the contest by stopping all 17 shots he faced.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS ...Merrimack and Mercyhurst have met only two times in the all-time series with both meetings coming last season in North Andover, Massachusetts. The teams earned a split with Mercyhurst taking the first game by a 3-2 final before Merrimack responded with a 5-2 win the following night.
The Warriors enter the weekend with a 3-0-0 record and a 1-0-0 mark in Hockey East play. All three of Merrimack's victories have been by one goal. Hampus Gustafsson leads the Warriors with two goals and one assist through three games. Five players have two points on the young season. Goaltender Rasmus Tirronen has started all three games between the pipes and is 3-0-0 with a 1.32 goals against average and a .943 save percentage.
NON-CONFERENCE NIGHTMARES ...Since joining the Division I ranks in the 1999-2000 season, the Lakers have struggled against teams out-of-conference. Mercyhurst is 19-90-11 against non-conference opponents in its Division I history and posted a 2-8-1 non-conference mark last season. The Lakers earned victories over Merrimack and Rensselaer and a tie at Alaska in 2013-14.
Not including conference-newcomer, Connecticut, the Lakers are 2-16-1 against teams from the Hockey East. Mercyhurst's only victories against Hockey East opponents are against Maine and Merrimack. (Merrimack 1-1-0; Maine 1-5-1; New Hampshire 0-1-0; Notre Dame 0-4-0; Boston College 0-2-0; Massachusetts 0-1-0; Northeastern 0-2-0).
SEASON OPENING STRUGGLES ...Since joining the Division I ranks in 1999-2000, Mercyhurst has not fared well in season openers. In fact, Mercyhurst is 0-15-1 in its 16 season-opening games since becoming a Division I member. The only non-loss in those 16 games was a 4-4 overtime tie at Michigan to open the 2010-11 season. The Lakers eventually defeated the Wolverines in a shootout but the game went in the record books as a tie. Mercyhurst has been outscored 68-30 in those 16 contests.
AYE, AYE CAPTAIN ...Head coach
Rick Gotkin announced that senior forward
Matthew Zay will serve as this year's team captain, while seniors
Ryan Misiak and
Tyler Shiplo will be the assistants.
Zay, a native of Glendale, New York, enters the 2014-15 season needing just four points to become the 17th player in school history, at the Division I level, to record 100 career points. He has led the Lakers in each of the last two seasons in scoring, including a career-high 43 points last year. He was a First Team All-Atlantic Association selection and was named the team's Best Forward at the annual postseason banquet last season. Zay participated in the Chicago Blackhawks Prospect Development Camp over the summer.
Hailing from Shelby Township, Michigan, Misiak needs just five points to reach the century mark in his career. He had a career-high 25 assists last season, helping him tie his career-best of 38 points he also recorded as a sophomore. He led the Lakers with 29 points against conference opponents last season and was named an All-AHA Second Team honoree in 2012-13. Misiak attended the New Jersey Devils Prospect Development Camp in the summer of 2013.
Shiplo, who calls Oakville, Ontario, home, is one of two senior defensemen this season for the Lakers. He scored a career-high five goals last season and enters his senior campaign needing one point for 50 in his career. Last season, Shiplo was fifth on the team with a +13 plus/minus rating and was second on the squad with 66 blocked shots.
MUCH BETTER IN CONFERENCE OPENERS ...In contrast to Mercyhurst's 0-15-1 record in season openers since becoming a Division I program in 1999-2000, the Lakers have fared much better in conference openers. Since the 1999-2000 campaign, Mercyhurst is 10-5-1 in its conference opening contests and have outscored the opposition by a 55-40 margin.
MERCYHURST PICKED TO WIN AHA IN PRESEASON POLL ...For the first time since the 2006-07 season, Mercyhurst was picked to win the Atlantic Hockey Association according to the annual preseason coaches' poll. The Lakers garnered six first-place votes en route to the top spot in the voting. Coming off of the team's first-ever AHA regular season championship last season and first since winning the last of three MAAC Hockey League regular season titles in 2002-03, Mercyhurst has much of its team returning from a year ago. Last year's AHA representative in the NCAA tournament, Robert Morris, came in second and received three first-place nods. Air Force, Niagara, and Bentley rounded out the top five.
PLENTY OF FIREPOWER RETURNING ...Mercyhurst has the luxury of returning 12 of its top scorers from an offense that averaged 3.61 goals per game and ranked third in the nation a year ago. Nine returners up front finished the 2013-14 season with double digit points, led by senior
Matthew Zay (17g, 26a), who tied for the team lead with 43 points. He was an All-AHA First Team choice after earning Third Team honors as a sophomore. He led the AHA outright in scoring during his sophomore campaign, becoming the first Mercyhurst player to accomplish the feat since joining the conference. Senior
Ryan Misiak (13g, 25a) established a career-high in assists and tied his career-high in points last season. He was an All-AHA Second Team member as a sophomore. Senior
Daniel Bahntge (15g, 17a) was a member of the AHA All-Rookie Team as a freshman. All three of them are within ten points of reaching the century mark for their careers.
Redshirt senior
Kyle Just established career-highs in goals (8) and points (27) while senior
Nardo Nagtzaam (11g, 11a) tied his career-high in goals despite only playing in 23 games. Senior
Zac Frischmon (8g, 14a) had career-highs in goals, assists, and points. Sophomore
Kyle Dutra (7g, 15a) led all freshmen on the team in scoring and was the AHA Rookie of the Month for December. Senior
Chris Bodo (10g, 11a), junior
Kyle Cook (11g, 7a), and sophomore
Stephen Hrehoriak (6g, 7a) also finished in double figures a year ago.
SARJEANT AT ARMS ...Mercyhurst also has the luxury of returning its goaltender from a year ago - the reigning AHA Player of the Year and Goaltender of the Year, senior
Jimmy Sarjeant. Last season, Sarjeant went 14-0-5 with a 2.00 goals against average and a .943 save percentage against league opponents. His overall winning percentage of .724 (18-5-6) ranked seventh in the country while his .930 save percentage was fifth in the nation. He earned his first collegiate shutout with a 51-save masterpiece against Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, last January. It was the most saves by a Laker netminder since Ryan Zapolski stopped 63 Canisius shots in a double overtime loss on March 13, 2010. The 51 saves set a program record for most saves in shutout since the team moved to Division I in 1999-2000 and marked the most stops in a non-overtime game since Jordan Wakefield had 52 saves in a loss at Air Force on January 6, 2007.
Last season, Sarjeant became the first Laker to win the AHA Player of the Year Award since the league's inception in 2003-04. He also became the first Mercyhurst goaltender to win the league's Goaltender of the Year Award since the league's inception. He became just the second goaltender to win both AHA Player of the Year and Goaltender of the Year in the same season (Josh Kassel, Army, 2007-08) and just the third goaltender to win Player of the Year honors (Kassel, Carson Chubak of Niagara, 2012-13).
CLOSING IN ...Three Lakers - seniors
Matthew Zay,
Ryan Misiak, and
Daniel Bahntge - are all within 10 points of becoming members of the 100-point club at the Division I level at Mercyhurst. 16 players have already earned the distinction, with the last being
Daniel O'Donoghue, who reached the milestone last December. Zay (35g, 64a) needs just one point to reach 100 while Misiak (37g, 58a) is just five points shy. Bahntge (39g, 52a) is nine points away from the century mark.
Also with a shot this season to reach the century mark are senior
Chris Bodo (40g, 35a), redshirt senior
Kyle Just (16g, 52a), and senior
Nardo Nagtzaam (24g, 37a). Bodo, who is 25 points shy, recorded a career-high 27 points during his sophomore campaign and had a goal and an assist in the opening weekend. Meanwhile, Just (32 points away) and Nagtzaam (39 points away) would have to post career-highs to reach the plateau. Just's career-high is 27 set last season while Nagtzaam scored 30 as a freshman and had 22 points in 23 games last season.
GOTKIN CLIMBS THE LEADERBOARD ...Head coach
Rick Gotkin enters his 27th season as the Mercyhurst head coach. He is the only coach in NCAA history to take the same program to the NCAA tournament at all three divisions (D-III - 1991; D-II - 1993, 1995; D-I - 2001, 2003, 2005). He has guided the Lakers to a record of 475-336-72 and ranks 25th on the all-time list of NCAA coaches in victories. He ranks 12th among active coaches with his 475 victories and needs eight wins to surpass Joe Marsh (St. Lawrence, 1985-2012) and to move into 24th on the all-time wins list. He is 25 wins shy of 500 victories with the Laker program.
GOING CAMPING ...Senior
Matthew Zay participated in the Chicago Blackhawks Prospect Development Camp over the summer, joining a list of current Lakers who have been to NHL camps in the past.
Nardo Nagtzaam participated in the Washington Capitals camp in the summer of 2012 while
Ryan Misiak was at the New Jersey Devils camp in the summer of 2013.
Nagtzaam also played for his native country, Netherlands, in the IIHF World Championships (Division I - Group B) in Vilnius, Lithuania this past April. He was the only collegiate player on the Dutch roster.
SARJEANT ON USCHO.COM AND MIKE RICHTER WATCH LISTS ...Coming off of his brilliant 2013-14 campaign, senior goaltender
Jimmy Sarjeant was recognized as one of ten goaltenders to watch according to USCHO.com and one of twenty on the initial list for the second annual Mike Richter Award, given to the nation's top goaltender. Sarjeant, who was one of 19 finalists for the inaugural Mike Richter Award, posted an 18-5-6 overall record with a 2.46 goals against average and a .930 save percentage last season.
CHECKING IN ON O'DONOGHUE AND JONES ...At the end of last season,
Daniel O'Donoghue became the fifth player from Mercyhurst in the history of the program to sign an NHL entry level contract when he signed with the Phoenix Coyotes. O'Donoghue joined Jody Robinson (New York Islanders), T.J. Kemp (Edmonton Oilers), Jamie Hunt (Washington Capitals), and Cullen Eddy (Philadelphia Flyers) as the list of NHL signees. Hunt remains the only Mercyhurst alum to play in an NHL regular season contest when he played one game for the Capitals in the 2006-07 season.
O'Donoghue, a native of Port Jefferson Station, New York, began the season with the Coyotes' AHL affiliate - the Portland Pirates. He played three contests with the Pirates at the end of last season.
After not appearing in a game with the Pirates this season, O'Donoghue is currently playing for the Gwinnett Gladiators in the East Coast Hockey League. He has one assist in one game so far this season.
Jones, meanwhile, signed a contract with the AHL's Worcester Sharks in the offseason. The Cranberry Township, Pa., native played two games with the Sharks at the tail end of last season. He is currently playing with the Indy Fuel in the East Coast Hockey League and is off to a terrific start, tallying one goal and three assists for four points in two games.
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? ...As with every season, Mercyhurst has brought in a host of freshmen that will be looking to contribute at the collegiate level. Seven newcomers join the roster in 2014-15 - three forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender. Up front,
Kane Elliott played for the Milton Icehawks (OJHL) and scored 59 points (27g, 32a) in 51 games last season.
Jonathan Charbonneau played for the St. Jerome Panthers (QJAHL). He tallied 40 goals and 49 assists in just 42 games with the Panthers. Finally, head coach
Rick Gotkin's son,
Brandon Gotkin, joins the team after playing four seasons with the Cathedral Prep Ramblers in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League. He had a career-high 29 points during his junior season and registered 67 points and 149 penalty minutes in 72 career games.
On the blueline,
Tyler Enns played three seasons for the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots (OJHL). He had 14 points in 31 games during the 2013-14 season.
Patrick Piacentini was a member of the North York Rangers (OJHL) for the past two seasons. He had 10 goals and 75 assists in 103 games with the Rangers during his career. Finally,
Zach Todd played with the Boston Jr. Bruins (USPHL) last season and recorded 12 goals and 21 assists. Prior to that, Todd played for the Brockville Braves in the CCHL and had 24 goals and 28 assists in 54 games with the team during the 2012-13 season.
Brandon Wildung is the lone new face between the pipes. He competed with the Minot Minotauros in the NAHL during the 2013-14 season. He went 14-17-3 with a 2.44 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. He also played with the Flin Flon Bombers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in 2012-13. While there, he went 11-6-0 with a 2.61 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.
Redshirt freshman
Jack Riley also rejoins the club this season after an injury forced him out of the Laker lineup for all but seven games in his rookie season a year ago. The son of Army coach Brian Riley, Jack had one assist in his seven games with the Lakers last season.
