Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Men's Hockey team opens the regular season this weekend against No. 4 Minnesota.
The Matchup
Mercyhurst and Minnesota have matched up just three times with the first time being in the NCAA Tournament. This weekend will be the first non-tournament matchups. The two teams have played in the 2003 NCAA West Regional, the 2013 Ice Breaker Tournament, and the 2016-17 Mariucci Classic. Mercyhurst is 0-3-0 all-time against the Golden Gophers.
They Count For Real Now
Last Saturday, the Lakers laced up their skates for the first time this season to take on Vermont in an exhibition game. Paul Maust scored an early goal and Philip Waugh scored the second Laker goal to make it 2-0. Vermont scored four straight including an empty netter to take the exhibition win. Hank Johnson and Kyle McClellan split the game in net, Johnson made nine saves and McClellan made six.
Everyone Scores
Last season 20 different Lakers scored a goal with Jonathan Bendorf leading the way with 11 goals. Five defenseman netted goals from the backend paced by five from Michael Bevilacqua. Joseph Maziarz was 24th in the nation in points per game for defensemen with 13 points in 20 games.
Battle of Special Teams
The Mercyhurst penalty kill finished last season 25th in the nation killing off 80.8 percent of power plays. The power play converted on 12-of-69 of their power plays last season. Seven different players scored on the man advantage for the Lakers last season. Austin Heidemann led the way with four power-play goals. The Golden Gophers were 17-of-96 on the powerplay last season and killed 85.5 percent of penalties in 2020-21.
Scouting Minnesota
Minnesota opens their season this weekend against Mercyhurst after having their opening series against Alaska postponed due to health concerns. The Golden Gophers enter the season with ranked fourth in the nation in both national polls and received first place polls. In 2020-21 Minnesota won an NCAA best 24 wins and won the Big Ten tournament s and returned to the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers have 19 players returning from last season including Mike Richter Award Winner and Hobey Baker Award Finalist Jack LaFontaine.
Up Next
The Lakers open up Atlantic Hockey play next week at home as Holy Cross travels to Erie.
