ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will play its final regular season series of the year on Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28, when it travel to Atlantic Hockey Conference-rival Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) for a pair of contests that will determine playoff seeding. Faceoffs from the new Gene Polisseni Center are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. both nights.
Mercyhurst (16-12-4, 14-9-3 AHC) and RIT (13-14-5, 12-9-5 AHC) are separated by two points in the battle for fourth-place in the conference stadings. Air Force is lingering with 27 points and can make some noise with a weekend sweep, at home, against Canisius. The Lakers were swept by Canisius in a home-and-home series last weekend to keep the team from clinching a first-round bye and home ice in the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals on March 13, 14, and 15. Instead, it all comes down to this weekend.
The scenarios are as follows: with a split or better this weekend, Mercyhurst will secure a first-round bye and home ice in the quarterfinals on March 13, 14, and 15 against an opponent to be determined. If Mercyhurst gets only one point, the Lakers would finish fifth and would travel back to RIT in the quarterfinal round on March 13, 14, and 15. However, if RIT sweeps Mercyhurst, and Air Force sweeps Canisius at home, it would mean that Mercyhurst would host a first round series, at the Mercyhurst Ice Center, as the #6 seed on March 6, 7, and 8.
The Lakers can finish anywhere from second to sixth in the regular season.
LAST TIME OUT ...Mercyhurst was swept in a home-and-home series against Canisius last weekend to keep the Lakers from clinching a first-round bye and home ice in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals. Mercyhurst lost by the finals of 4-2 in Erie last Friday and 3-1 in Buffalo last Saturday to drop to 1-7-1 in the last nine games against the Golden Griffins. During that same stretch, the Lakers are 32-8-8 against the rest of the conference.
THE SERIES VS RIT ...This weekend will mark games #55 and #56 in the all-time series against RIT, which dates back to the Division III ECAC West days. Mercyhurst is 18-30-6 lifetime against the Tigers, which includes an 8-14-2 record in Rochester. On the bright spot, Mercyhurst swept the season series from the Tigers last season (3-0-0), with two of those victories coming in Rochester on February 14 and 15. It marked the first time that the Lakers swept the Tigers in Rochester since the series started.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS ...RIT is 8-4-2 in its last 14 games after starting the season with a 5-10-3 record and have put themselves into position to pass the Lakers in the standings for a first-round bye, and home ice, in the quarterfinals. Senior Matt Garbowsky is seventh in the country in points per game, averaging 1.31 this season. He leads the Tigers, and Atlantic Hockey, with 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points. Junior Josh Mitchell (12g, 26a) and senior Brad McGowan (14g, 19a) combine with Garbowsky as one of the most prolific scoring trios in the country. The three have scored more than half of RIT's goals (47 of 93) and have combined for 113 of RIT's 252 points. In goal, senior Jordan Ruby and sophomore Mike Rotolo combine to form a formidable duo between the pipes. Ruby is 6-7-4 with a 2.26 goals against average and a .917 save percentage while Rotolo is 7-6-1 with a 2.81 goals against average and an .899 save percentage. The Tigers' penalty killing unit has allowed only 17 power play goals in 148 chances this season (88.5%).
AGAINST RIT ...Several current Lakers have had a great deal of success in their careers against RIT. Seniors
Nardo Nagtzaam and
Daniel Bahntge have each scored three goals and six assists lifetime against RIT - Nagtzaam in seven games, Bahntge in nine. Senior
Zac Frischmon has six of his twenty career goals in nine games against RIT while seniors
Chris Bodo and
Ryan Misiak have each scored seven points when suiting up against RIT.
