ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst men's hockey team continues Atlantic Hockey play on Friday and Saturday when they host Air Force at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Puck drop on Friday is set for 5 p.m. and face off on Saturday is slated for 3 p.m.

THE SERIES
The Lakers are 2-5-1, 1-2-1 against Atlantic Hockey opponentes after dropping a pair of contests to Canisius in a home-and home series last weekend.

Air Force leads the all-time series 25-14-4, and were 4-0 against the Lakers in 2019-20 including a pair of postseason wins.

Air Force enters the contest 0-6-1 after picking up a point in an overtime loss to Sacred Heart in a game played at Niagara's Dwyer Arena Wednesday night. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Lakers dropped a pair of games to Canisius in a home-and-home Atlantic Hockey series. 

In the opener, Steven Ipri scored a pair of goals, but the Lakers came out on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision.

In the second half of the series, the Lakers fell 3-0.

HONOR ROLL
Carson 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.

PENALTY KILL
The Mercyhurst penalty kill  ranks seventh in the nation killing 30-of-33 power plays on the year.

The Lakers penalty kill went 6-for-7 in the series with Canisius.

FIRSTS ARE FUN
The young Laker team looks to add many collegiate firsts with several freshman playing key roles for the Lakers early on.

The list of firsts grew on Friday, 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.

POWER PLAY 
The Laker power play ranked fourth in Division I with six goals. Mercyhurst is connecting at a .240 clip.

Five different Lakers have scored on the power play led by a pair of man-advantage tallies by Austin Heidemann.

SCORING BALANCE 
In eight games, Mercyhurst has 12 different goal scorers and 21 players that have recorded a point. 

Carson Briere paces the Laker offense with nine points on three goals and six assists.

Fellow freshman Dante Sheriff ranks second in scoring with seven points. 

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

They have blocked 132 shots on the season averaging 16.2 per game.

Quinn Wichers leads all Lakers with 22 blocked shots. Michael Bevilacqua adds 20 blocks. Cade Townend and Owen Norton have also reached double figures in blocks with 18 and 12 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.

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 566 career victories.

IT HASN'T HAPPENED IN A WHILE
A few notable things happened for the Lakers in their victory on Dec. 18.

Mercyhurst trailed 4-1 in the third period and rallied back to in 7-4. The last time the Lakers had overcome a 3-goal deficit was March 14, 2014 against Holy Cross and the last time they trailed by three on the road and won was Nov. 30, 2012 at Air Force.

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

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.