Mercyhurst Game Notes
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Looking to bounce back after being swept for the first time in conference play this season, the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will make the trip to Rochester, New York to square off against the Tigers of the Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15. Faceoffs both nights are scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The Lakers are 16-30-6 lifetime against their longtime rival - a series that dates back to 1988 when both programs were at the Division III level. Mercyhurst, however, won the only meeting of the season between the two schools earlier this season by a 3-2 final on November 8 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. In the series history, the Lakers are just 6-14-2 lifetime at the Frank Ritter Arena in Rochester and just 1-4-2 in the last seven meetings in that building.

Mercyhurst (15-12-5, 13-4-4 AHA), despite being swept by Air Force last weekend in Colorado, holds a two-point lead over Bentley for the top spot in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings with six regular season games remaining. The Lakers suffered 5-3 and 2-0 losses at Air Force, which moved to within three points of first place. Mercyhurst has 30 points, two points clear of Bentley, three points ahead of Connecticut and Air Force, and just four points ahead of fifth-place Robert Morris. The Lakers have already clinched home ice in their first round of the playoffs - what's left is determining what weekend the postseason will start.

The Lakers scored just three goals last weekend at Air Force - one each by junior Tyler Shiplo, sophomore Kyle Cook, and freshman Kyle Dutra. Redshirt junior Jordan Tibbett made his third and fourth consecutive starts over the weekend in place of the injured Jimmy Sarjeant, and suffered two tough luck losses despite making 86 saves in the two games, including a career-high 48 saves in last Friday's 5-3 loss. In Tibbett's four starts in place of Sarjeant, he has gone 1-2-1 with a 2.22 goals against average and a .945 save percentage.

Mercyhurst is hoping to see the return of both Sarjeant and senior forward Daniel O'Donoghue this weekend when it travels to Rochester. Sarjeant left midway through the second period of the Lakers' 7-4 loss against Canisius on January 25 and O'Donoghue has missed the last three contests with an injury. Sarjeant is 13-4-4 with a 2.33 goals against average and a .932 save percentage on the season and is unbeaten in conference play (12-0-3). Meanwhile, O'Donoghue is the team's second-leading scorer this season with 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points in 29 games.

Junior Matthew Zay, who was held off the scoresheet last weekend for the first time in a series since October 19 and 20, 2012, against Ferris State, continues to lead the Lakers in scoring with a career-high 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points.

RIT (8-15-5, 7-11-3 AHA) went 0-1-1 last weekend at home against Robert Morris, skating to a 2-2 draw on Friday and falling 5-1 on Saturday. On Friday, Mike Rotolo made a career-high 40 saves. Mike Colavecchia leads the team in scoring with 26 points on 12 goals and 14 assists, while Todd Skirving and Greg Noyes have 21 points apiece.

RIT has traditionally had strong special teams and this year is no exception. RIT's power-play is currently sixth nationally, converting at 22.8 percent. The RIT penalty-killing unit has allowed just three power-play goals over the last eight games, killing off 35 of its opponents last 38 chances with the man-advantage.

With just six games left in the regular season, the Tigers currently have 17 points in AHA play, which puts them in a three-way tie for eighth place with Holy Cross and American International.