The Mercyhurst men's ice hockey team is set to host the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Playoffs on March 8-10 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. All games will be played at 7:05 p.m. Sunday's game will only be played in necessary.
 
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Last Time Out
The Lakers are coming off of two losses to Robert Morris. They fell 5-4 in overtime on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday.
 
Tommaso Bucci, Joseph Duszak, Joshua Lammon, Derek Barach, Matthew Whittaker, Dalton Hunter, Jeremy Wu, Owen Norton and Steven Ipri had points for Mercyhurst.
 
Stefano Cantali made 37 saves in net on Friday while Colin DeAugustine stopped 29 shots on Saturday.
 
Previous Matchup
The Lakers and Black Knights have met four times this season with the Lakers going 0-1-3.
 
Back in October, the Black Knights came to the MIC and took away 5-1 and 3-2 overtime wins.
 
Ethan Johnson, Daniel Devons, Taylor Best, Josh McDougall, Whittaker, Duszak, Hunter and Barach recorded points for the Lakers.
 
Cantali made a total of 52 saves in net during the weekend.
 
Mason Krueger, Dalton MacAfee, Tipper Higgins, Matt Berkovitz, Trevor Filder, Zach Evancho, Alex Wilkinson, Ian Mansfield, Tucker DeYoung, Brendan Soucie, Michael Wilson, Colin Bilek and Dominic Franco had points for the Black Knights.
 
Trevin Kozlowski stopped a total of 52 shots for Army during the two games.
 
In February, the Lakers traveled to West Point, N.Y. and tied the Black Knights 1-1 before falling 4-3 the next night.
 
Duszak, Lammon, Bucci, McDougall, Ipri, Barach, Best and Whittaker tallied points for Mercyhurst.
 
Cantali made 27 saves on Friday while DeAugustine stopped 41 shots on Saturday.
 
Daniel Haider, Taylor Maruya, Bilek, MacAfee, Evancho, Wilkinson, Krueger, MacAfee and Filder picked up points for Army.
 
Matt Penta made 50 saves during the weekend series for the Black Knights.
 
All Time Series
Mercyhurst holds a 41-15-7 advantage over Army. The Black Knights hold a 6-2-2 edge in the last 10 contests.
 
Scouting Army
The Black Knights finished the regular season with a 10-18-7, 8-13-7 record. They finished 10th in the AHA standings. Army is coming off of a 2-1 loss and 3-3 tie to Bentley.
 
MacAfee is leading the Black Knight roster with 24 assists and 30 points. Evancho is next with 27 points and Wilkinson has 23 points. Franco is leading the roster with 12 goals and has 20 points.
 
Jared Dempsey has a 3-10-2 record, 3.01 goals against average and .895 save percentage. Kozlowski has a 5-6-2 record, 2.69 GAA and .899 save percentage. Penta has a 1-2-3 record with a 2.94 GAA and .867 save percentage.
 
MacAfee is ranked 13th in the nation with 0.88 points per game as a defenseman and tied for 23rd in the nation with 0.71 assists per game. Wilkinson is tied for 22nd in the nation with 0.79 points per game as a defenseman.
 
Army is ranked sixth in the nation on the power play with 25.2 percent and ranked 38th on the penalty kill going 79.7 percent.
 
A Look at the Lakers
Mercyhurst finished the regular season with a 13-18-5, 11-13-4 record. They finished seventh in the AHA standings.
 
Duszak is on top of the Laker roster with 16 goals, 29 assists and 45 points. Barach is next with 35 points and Lammon has 30 points.
 
Cantali has a 6-9-3 record, 3.17 GAA and .903 save percentage. Garrett Metcalf has a 7-6-0 record with a 3.13 GAA and .902 save percentage. DeAugustine has a 0-3-2 record, 4.24 GAA and .891 save percentage.
 
The Lakers are ranked 43rd on the power play with 16.1 percent and 55th in the nation with 75.6 percent.
 
National Rankings
Duszak is ranked second in the nation with 1.29 points per game as a defenseman, fifth in the nation with 1.29 points per game, sixth with 0.83 assists per game, 
 
Dalton Hunter is ranked fifth in the nation with 0.86 points per game as a freshman.
 
Hobey Baker Award
Duszak and Barach have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award. Fans can vote now until March 10. Vote HERE.
 
Other Atlantic Hockey Action
#11 Canisius at #6 Niagara
#9 Holy Cross at #8 Robert Morris
 
Next Up
Winner of the weekend series moves onto the AHA Quarterfinals, which will be played on March 15-17.  
 
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