The Mercyhurst men's ice hockey team travels to West Point, N.Y., to take on Atlantic Hockey opponent Army on Feb. 15-16. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m. both nights.

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Riley Bowl
Brendan Riley heads to his father Brian Riley, the head coach of Army, for the second time in his college career. This marks the sixth straight season of the Riley Bowl, the third with Brendan on the team, the first without Brendan's brother Jack Riley on the Mercyhurst team.
 
With Brendan on the Lakers roster, Mercyhurst has gone 3-5-1 against Army. Brendan has played in three of those games recording one goal and a +1 plus/minus rating.

Last Time Out
Before their weekend off, the Lakers played in a home-and-home series with Canisius. The Lakers won 5-3 on Friday before tying 1-1 the next night.

Michael Bevilacqua, James Anderson, Dalton Hunter, Joshua Lammon, Owen Norton, Wes Baker, Geoff Kitt, Joseph Duszak, Taylor Best, Derek Barach and Josh McDougall tallied points for Mercyhurst.

Stefano Cantali made 40 saves in net on Friday while Colin DeAugustine stopped 36 shots on Saturday.

Previous Matchup
Back in October, Army came to the Mercyhurst Ice Center and swept the weekend. The Lakers fell 5-1 and 3-2 in overtime.

Ethan Johnson, Devon Daniels, Matthew Whittaker, Best, Duszak, Barach and McDougall picked up points for Mercyhurst.

Cantali made 52 saves in net during the weekend series.

Mason Krueger, Dalton MacAfee, Tupper Higgins, Matt Berkovitz, Trevor Fidler, Zach Evancho, Alex Wilkinson, Ian Mansfield, Tucker DeYoung, Michael Wilson, Brendan Soucie, Colin Bilek and Dominic Franco recorded points for Army.

Trevin Kozlowski made a total of 52 saves in net for Army.
 

All-Time Series
Mercyhurst holds a 41-14-6 advantage over the Black Knights. Army holds a 5-1-4 edge in the last ten contests.
 

Scouting Army
The Black Knights are coming into the weekend with a 9-16-4, 7-11-4 record. They are coming off of two losses to American International. They fell 3-0 and 5-2 last weekend.

MacAfee is on top of the Black Knight roster with 21 assists and 25 points. Evancho is next with 23 points and Wilkinson has 20 points. Franco is leading with 12 assists and has 19 points.

Jared Dempsey has a 3-10-2 record, 3.11 goals against average and .893 save percentage. Kozlowski has a 5-6-2 record with a 2.69 GAA and .899 save percentage and Matt Penta has made seven saves in net.

MacAfee is tied for 12th in the nation with 0.89 points per game for a defenseman and tied for 27th in the nation with 0.75 assists per game. Franco is tied for second in the nation with eight power play goals. Wilkinson is ranked 15th in the nation with 0.87 points per game as a defenseman.

The Black Knights are ranked third in the nation on the power play going 28.1 percent and ranked 35th on the penalty kill with 79.8 percent.

Laker Lineup
The Lakers are coming into the weekend series with a 13-14-3, 11-9-2 record.

Duszak is leading the Lakers with 14 goals, 25 assists and 39 points. Barach is next with 30 points and Lammon has 22 points.

Cantali has earned a 6-7-1 record, 3.33 GAA and .896 save percentage. Garrett Metcalf has a 7-6-0 record, 3.05 GAA and .906 save percentage and DeAugustine has a 0-1-2 record, 4.4.2 GAA and .888 save percentage.

The Lakers are ranked 41st on the power play with 16.5 percent and ranked 47th on the penalty kill with 77.5 percent.
 

National Ranking
Duszak is ranked second in the nation with 1.34 points per game as a defenseman, fifth in the nation with 1.34 points per game and seventh with 0.86 assists per game.

Steven Ipri is tied for 24th in the nation with 0.68 points per game as a freshman.


Streaking
Hunter is riding a four-game point streak with three goals and one assist. He has recorded points in seven of the eight games since he came back from injury. Lammon is on a three game point streak with two goals and three assists. Best is riding a two-game point streak with one goal and one assist.
 

Hobey Baker Award
Duszak and Barach have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award. Fans can vote now until March 10. Vote HERE.

Playoff Watch
1. AIC (35)
2. Bentley (28)
3. Air Force (25)
    RIT (25)
5. Mercyhurst (24)
    Sacred Heart (24)
7. Niagara (21)
8. Army (18)
9. Robert Morris (17)
    Holy Cross (17)
11. Canisius (14)

The top five teams receive a first-round bye. The bottom six teams play in the first round, as the top three of those teams earn hosting ability. The three winners from the first-round move on to play in the Quarterfinals. The top four teams host the bottom four teams, with the four winners moving onto the Final Four.
 

Next Up
The Lakers host Air Force at the MIC on Feb. 22-23. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m. Saturday will be the "Pucks n Paws" event.
 

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