COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team opens the 2014-15 regular season this Friday and Saturday, October 10 and 11, when it travels to Air Force for a two-game series against the Falcons. Faceoffs from the Cadet Ice Arena are scheduled for 9:05 p.m. MT, 7:05 p.m. on the east coast.
It will mark the only meeting between the two schools during the 2014-15 regular season.
Air Force holds a 13-11-3 overall advantage over the Lakers in the all-time series. Last season, the Falcons won two of the three meetings between the two programs with each team winning its games on home ice. Mercyhurst took the series opener last season, winning by the final of 8-2 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center last November 2. Air Force returned the favor by sweeping the Lakers in Colorado this past February. The Falcons won the weekend opener, 5-3, on February 7, before blanking the Lakers on the 8th by a 2-0 final.
EXHIBITION OPENER ...Mercyhurst opened the 2014-15 season last Sunday 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.
INSIDE THE AIR FORCE SERIES ...The Mercyhurst-Air Force series has generally been one of the most evenly matched rivalries in the Atlantic Hockey Association since the Falcons joined the league in 2006-07. Air Force holds the all-time series lead over the Lakers by a 13-11-3 margin, but 21 of the 27 meetings between the two schools has been decided by two goals or less. Only once in the series history has a team won more than two games in a row (Mercyhurst won three straight in 2007).
The line that gave Mercyhurst fits last season - Cole Gunner, Scott Holm, and Chad Demers - returns for the Falcons this season. The trio combined for six goals and nine assists in Air Force's two-game sweep of the Lakers in Colorado last February.
Mercyhurst holds a 7-4-1 advantage over Air Force at the Cadet Ice Arena despite getting swept last February.
SEASON OPENING STRUGGLES ...Since joining the Division I ranks in 1999-2000, Mercyhurst has not fared well in season openers. In fact, Mercyhurst is 0-14-1 in its 15 season-opening games since becoming a Division I member. The only non-loss in those 15 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 63-29 in those 15 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 0-14-1 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 10-4-1 in its conference opening contests and have outscored the opposition by a 54-35 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, 61a) needs just four points 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 (39g, 34a), redshirt senior
Kyle Just (16g, 52a), and senior
Nardo Nagtzaam (23g, 37a). Bodo, who is 27 points shy, recorded a career-high 27 points during his sophomore campaign. Meanwhile, Just (32 points away) and Nagtzaam (40 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 474-336-72 and ranks 25th on the all-time list of NCAA coaches in victories. He ranks 12th among active coaches with his 474 victories and needs nine wins to surpass Joe Marsh (St. Lawrence, 1985-2012) and to move into 24th on the all-time wins list. He is 26 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.
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.
