ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will conclude its nine-game homestand, and a five-game in seven-day stretch, with a crucial two-game weekend series against the Crusaders of Holy Cross on Friday, Janaury 16, and Saturday, January 17. Faceoffs from the Mercyhurst Ice Center are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. both nights.

The Lakers (10-7-3, 8-4-2 AHC) enter the series in a tie for fourth place in the conference standings with Bentley - one point behind the third-place Crusaders (8-8-5, 7-3-5 AHC), two points behind second-place Canisius, and five points behind conference-leading Robert Morris. Mercyhurst suffered a 5-2 loss against Canisius on Tuesday night at the Ice Center.

Mercyhurst leads the all-time series against Holy Cross by a 33-13-5 margin. The Lakers won all four games against the Crusaders last season, including a sweep in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals last March at the Ice Center. In fact, Mercyhurst has eliminated Holy Cross in the quarterfinal series in each of the last three seasons. All told, the Lakers have won five straight, seven of the last eight, and are 17-4-1 over the last 22 meetings between the two schools.

Senior forward Daniel Bahntge, who scored his team-leading tenth goal of the season in the 5-2 loss to Canisius on Tuesday night, continues to lead the Lakers in scoring with ten goals and eleven assists for 21 points. Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Jack Riley extended his point-scoring streak to eight consecutive games against Canisius and is second on the squad with seven goals and twelve assists for 19 points. Bahntge is the reigning Atlantic Hockey Offensive Player of the Week while Riley captured last week's Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week honors.

All told, nine Lakers have scored in double figures this season, 15 players have recorded at least five points, and 18 different players have scored at least one goal.

In goal, freshman Brandon Wildung has started each of the last four contests in place of an injured Jimmy Sarjeant. Wildung is 3-2-2 overall with a 2.76 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.

Holy Cross enters having played a number of low-scoring contests this season. The Crusaders average just 2.24 goals per game but are allowing only 2.10 goals per contest through their first 21 games. Only three players - freshman T.J. Moore (6g, 7a), junior Jake Bolton (5g, 8a), and sophomore Mike Barrett (4g, 8a) have reached double figures in points this season.

Goaltending has been the key to Holy Cross' success with senior Matt Ginn asserting himself as one of the frontrunners for the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Year honors. Ginn has played all but 54 minutes and change between the pipes this season and is 8-7-5 with a 2.04 goals against average and a .932 save percentage overall. His numbers are even better against league opponents - 7-2-5 with a 1.71 goals against average and a .939 save percentage.