ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will open the 2015-16 regular season with some stiff competition as 20th-ranked Colgate University invades the Mercyhurst Ice Center for a two-game series. Faceoff on Saturday night is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. while Sunday's start time is slated for 4:05 p.m.

Saturday night's contest will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. All proceeds from ticket sales, the 50-50 raffle, and chuck-a-puck will go towards the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for non-Mercyhurst students and senior citizens. Mercyhurst students, as always, receive free admission with their student IDs.

The Lakers were picked to finish eighth according to the Atlantic Hockey preseason coaches' poll released last week. It marks the lowest conference preseason ranking that the program has had since joining the league back in 2003.

Mercyhurst certainly lost a significant amount of talent in the offseason due to graduation. All told, eleven seniors said goodbye to the program - all of whom contributed substantially during their careers. Mercyhurst lost five of its six top scorers from a year ago with only redshirt sophomore Jack Riley returning among that group. The Lakers also lost three of their top four defensemen from last season with only senior Anthony Mastrodicasa coming back. And, Mercyhurst lost the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year and Goaltender of the Year from two years ago, Jimmy Sarjeant, to graduation.

In fact, 22 of Mercyhurst's 29 players this season are either in the freshman or sophomore seasons.

As every coach in the country believes, a solid goaltender is needed to compete every night, and head coach Rick Gotkin feels he has an emerging star in sophomore Brandon Wildung returning between the pipes. Wildung made his presence felt for the Lakers down the stretch last season, starting in place of Sarjeant who was injured. Then, the Nassau, Minnesota, native turned his play up several notches in the postseason after earning his first collegiate shutout in game one of the quarterfinals at Bentley and then stopping 59-of-62 shots in the Lakers' 4-3 overtime win over top-seeded Robert Morris in the semifinals.

Wildung finished his rookie season with an 11-10-3 overall record, a 2.58 goals against average, and a .924 save percentage.

Waiting in the wings is junior Spencer Bacon, who, in limited action, has also proved he can play at this level. He went 2-1-1 last season with a .901 save percentage and a 3.33 goals against average.

The Lakers do have plenty of firepower coming back including Riley, who will serve as one of three assistant captains this season. Riley led all returners in scoring last season with seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points and was named to the Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team. Also expected to provide offensive punch are senior assistant captain Kyle Cook (two goals, eight assists), junior assistant captain Kyle Dutra (ten goals, four assists), and sophomore Jonathan Charbonneau (seven goals, twelve assists).

Mastrodicasa, who will serve as the 2015-16 captain, should lead the Laker blueliners. He posted four goals and sixteen assists last season and has 43 career points in a Laker uniform. Junior Philippe Drouin had two goals and four assists a year ago while sophomore Zach Todd had a goal and four assists. Both of them should also be counted on for much needed leadership on defense.