ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will host Atlantic Hockey Conference-leading, and 17th-ranked, Robert Morris at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in a two-game conference showdown on Saturday, December 13 and Sunday, December 14. Faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and 4:05 p.m. respectively and will be the Lakers' final games before the turn of the calendar.
Mercyhurst is 6-4-6 lifetime against Robert Morris and went 1-0-2 against the Colonials last season. Mercyhurst's 5-2 win at Robert Morris on March 1 snapped a string of four consecutive games in which the teams played to an overtime tie.
The Lakers (7-4-2, 5-2-2 AHC) are coming off of a weekend sweep at Army last Friday and Saturday. Mercyhurst earned a 3-2 victory in game one of the series and then completed the sweep with a 6-3 win on Saturday. It was Mercyhurst's first two-game series since November 14 and 15 at Bentley.
The weekend was an emotional return to West Point for redshirt freshman
Jack Riley, who was playing against his father for the second time this season, but the first time on the ice he grew up on. Riley was named the Atlantic Hockey Conference Rookie of the Week after scoring two goals and two assists in Saturday's 6-3 victory. Mercyhurst head coach
Rick Gotkin discusses the weekend and Riley's performance in the Mercyhurst Men's Hockey Weekly Insider on the video above.
Freshman
Jonathan Charbonneau continues to lead the Lakers in scoring with three goals and nine assists for 12 points in his first 13 collegiate games. Senior
Matthew Zay scored his first goals since October 24 against Merrimack last weekend and now has three goals and eight assists for 11 points. Senior
Zac Frischmon is the only other Laker in double figures, chipping in with two goals and eight assists for ten points.
Twenty players have at least one point this season while 16 have scored at least one goal through the first 13 games of the year. Of the 20 that have at least one point, 13 have tallied at least five points to solidify the Lakers' balanced attack on offense.
Between the pipes, senior
Jimmy Sarjeant returned to the lineup last Friday and stopped 34-of-36 Army shots in the Lakers' 3-2 victory. He improved to 5-3-0 with a 3.04 goals against average and a .914 save percentage this season. Freshman
Brandon Wildung picked up his first collegiate win on Saturday and is 1-0-1 with a 2.88 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. Sophomore
Spencer Bacon is the third Laker netminder and he is 1-1-1 with a 3.53 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.
The Colonials (10-1-3, 8-1-3 AHC) swept Sacred Heart at home last weekend to maintain a three-point lead over second-place Holy Cross in the league standings. Robert Morris' only loss this season was a 2-1 overtime setback to Air Force, at home, on November 15.
Senior forward Cody Wydo is a favorite for Player of the Year honors as he leads the Colonials with 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points in 14 games this season. All told, seven different players have at least 10 points which has enabled Robert Morris to have the highest-powered offense in the country (4.21 goals per game).
Goaltending has been spectacular as well with junior Terry Shafer and sophomore Dalton Izyk splitting all but 15 minutes in goal this season. The duo has combined to go 10-1-2 with a 2.10 goals against average and a .931 save percentage.
