ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst men's hockey team is back in action on Tuesday when they play host to No. 17 Robert Morris Tuesday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Puck drop is set for 4:30 p.m.

THE SERIES
The Lakers are 4-5-1, 3-2-1 against Atlantic Hockey opponents after sweeping Air Force two weekends ago. 

Robert Morris holds a 16-12-8 advantage in the all-time series. In four meetings last year the Lakers were 1-2-1 against the Colonials.

Robert Morris is off to a fast start at 11-3 overall 9-1-1 in Atlantic Hockey and have moved to No. 17 in the USCHO Poll last week. The Colonials were off last weekend and are coming off a sweep of Niagara last time out.

LAST TIME OUT
The Lakers swept a pair of games from visiting Air Force Friday and Saturday.

Mercyhurst fell behind 2-0 in the opener, but rallied for five straight goals to claim the 5-2 victory. Five different Lakers scored goals.

The Lakers followed it up with a 6-3 victory keyed by a hat trick from Austin Heidemann.

SCORING TOUCH
The Lakers posted 11 goals on the weekend against Air Force. It was the most goals for Mercyhurst against an Atlantic Hockey opponent since Jan. 11 & 12, 2019 against Canisius. 

The Lakers hadn't scored seven goals in a game since Nov. 3, 2017 against Penn State.

Austin Heidemann completed a hat trick for the Lakers becoming the first Laker to do since Joe Duszak scored three times against Holy Cross on Jan. 4, 2019.

HONOR ROLL
The Lakers added ttheir first monthly award winner as Carson Briere was selected as the Rookie of the Month for December by Atlantic Hockey.

Briere scored five points against Niagara on Dec. 16 & 18 to claim AHA Rookie of the Week Honors

For his effort against Niagara, junior defenseman Michael Bevilacqua was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week blocking seven shots and scoring a goal.

Freshman Dante Sheriff picked up Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week honors after recording three points on two goals and one assist against Clarkson Dec. 12 & 13.

Goalie Hank Johnson was named the Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Week after stopping 86-of-90 shots against No. 16 Bowling Green on Dec. 5 & 6.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Mercyhurst has been strong in both halves of the special teams batlle this season.

The Lakers rank 11th in the country on the power play conerting at a .250 clip (9-for-36).

On the PK, Mercyhurst has killed off 35-of-40 penalties a rate of .875 good for 12th in the nation.

The Lakers are one of five teams to rank inside the top 15 in the nation in both power play and penalty kill alongside Alabama Huntsville, Minnesota, Minnesota State and UMass. 

Austin Heidemann has been high impact on the power play scoring four of his five goals with the man advantage including a pair against Air Force on Saturday.

FIRSTS ARE FUN
Rylee St. Onge scored 17 points a season ago at Alaska Anchorage, but recorded his first career points as a Laker on Saturday night with a pair of assists against Air Force.

Also in the Saturday game with Air Force Kyle McClellan made his first collegiate start and win stopping 28 shots.

The list of firsts grew on Dec. 18, but for the first time this season the list added an upperclassman. Junior defenseman Devon Daniels scored his first collegiate goal, the eventual game-winner, in the Lakers 7-4 comeback victory over Niagara.

Austin Heidemann was the first newcomer to get on the board with his assist on the first goal of the Laker season. He added his first goal of the season on Dec. 12 against Clarkson

Noah Kane tallied the first goal of his collegiate career on Dec. 6 against Bowling Green.

Dante Sheriff didn't waste time getting on the board picking up a two point night, one goal and one assist, against Clarkson on Dec. 12.

Carson Briere tallied his first collegiate points with a pair of assists on Dec. 12 against Clarkson. He found the back of the net for the first time as a Laker on Dec. 16 vs Niagara.

Also picking up his first point on Dec. 12 was Marko Reifenberger getting a helper on the Noah Kane tally.

SHOT BLOCKING
The Lakers defensive effort has included a focus on blocking shots.

They have blocked 156 shots on the season averaging 15.6 per game.

Quinn Wichers leads all Lakers with 25 blocked shots. Michael Bevilacqua adds 22 blocks. Cade Townend and Owen Norton have also reached double figures in blocks with 20 and 13 respectively.

NEW YEAR, NEW FACES
As the calendar rolls over to 2021, the Lakers will welcome a trio of transfers from Alaska Anchorage to the squad.

Rylee St. Onge comes in with collegiate experience scoring 17 points last season for the Seawolves finishing second on the team. He scored his first two points as a Laker on Saturday with a pair of power play assists. 

Mercyhurst also adds a pair of freshman defenders in Devon Mussio and Wyatt Head.

CONFERENCE WIN 400
Head coach Rick Gotkin is one of the winningest coaches in Division I men's hockey.

With the Laker victory over Niagara on Dec. 18, Gotkin picked up his 400th career conference win. 

Gotkin has posted 568 career victories.

NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS
Austin Heidemann currently ranks tied for fifth in the country with four power play goals.

Heideman also ranks 34th in the nation in goals per game averaging a .5 goal per contest.

Carson Briere has recorded 1.0 point per game with 10 in 10 games. He has netted three goals and seven assists to rank 40th in Division I.

DECIFERING THE STANDINGS
Like many other things in 2020, the AHA standings will work differently than in years past.

To decrease travel, the league has split into two pods, east and west, leaving schedules unbalanced.

Atlantic Hockey will use point percentage to determine seeding.

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris enters Tuesday's contest with the No. 17 rankning in the USCHO Poll and an 11-3 overall record.

After sweeping Niagara on Jan. 9 & 10, the Colonials are 9-1-1 in Atlantic Hockey play for 25 points, the most in the league, and the leagues second best point percentage.

The Colonials average 3.9 goals per game while allowing 2.7.

Grant Hebert and Nick Prkusic lead the offense with 17 points each. Jordan Timmons is the leading goal scorer for Robert Morris with eight.

Five Colonials have crossed into double-figures for scoring this season.

Noah West has made 10 starts in net for the Colonials, making 298 saves. His .923 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average lead the team.