Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Men's Hockey team will travel to Dartmouth for the 32nd Annual Ledyard Classic. The Lakers will face Boston College to open the tournament on Thursday, Dec. 30. Mercyhurst will play either New Hampshire or Dartmouth on Friday.
It's Been A Minute
The Lakers closed out the first half of their season at home on Dec. 12 in a 7-4 loss to Miami (OH). Gueorgui Feduolov, Devon Daniels, Josh McDougall, and Pierce Crawford each scored for the Lakers in the 7-4 loss. Hank Johnson started in net and was relieved by Kyle McClellan after making 10 saves. McClellan made 18 saves in just under 35 minutes of time in net.
The Matchup and Possible Matchups
All-Time vs Boston College
The Lakers and Eagles have met twice in their histories with the last time being in 2010. BC took the game by a score of 4-1 on Dec. 31, 2010. The first time the two teams met was the NCAA Tournament in 2005 in which BC won 5-4
All-Time vs New Hampshire
Mercyhurst and UNH have played just twice in their histories. The Lakers are 0-2-0 while being outscored 8-4. The first matchup was in 2004 in which UNH won 5-4, the teams last played in 2016, New Hampshire won 3-0
All-Time vs Dartmouth
The Lakers and Big Green played their lone time in the 2010 Ledyard Classic in which the teams tied 4-4, the Lakers won in a shootout to advance to the championship against BC.
Where They Rank
As a team the Lakers have scored 54 goals which is second in the conference, just 10 behind Canisius who has played two more games. The Laker shooting percentage is also second in the conference as they are scoring on 10.9 percent of their shots.
The Lakers are led by Austin Heidemann, Carson Briere, and Jonathan Bendorf who have 14, 13, and 12 points respectively. Briere and Heidemann each have eight goals which leads the team and is tied for third in Atlantic Hockey.
The Laker goalies have been two of the busiest goalies in the conference as they have made 548 saves (second in the AHA) and are averaging 32.24 saves per game which is tops in Atlantic Hockey
Kyle McClellan sits in atop the saves per game category (32.22) in the AHA while Hank Johnson is right behind him at 28.67. McClellan is also fifth in Atlantic Hockey with a .906 save percentage.
Scoring Depth
18 different players have scored for the Lakers this season with 14 of them having multiple goals. 22 players have recorded a point for Mercyhurst including goaltender Kyle McClellan. All but one forward who has played a game this season has scored a goal for Mercyhurst.
One of the Best
The Lakers have the third best power-play in the nation and have scored 19 times on the man-advantage.
Briere and Mickey Burns are tied for the team lead in power-play goals with three while Sheriff, Bendorf, Cade Townend, Heideman, and Pierce Crawford have each scored twice on the power play.
Mercyhurst is has killed off 49-67 power plays this season. Steven Ipri has scored the lone shorthanded goal for the Lakers.
Scouting Boston College
The Eagles are 8-5-3 this season including a 5-3-2 conference record in Hockey East.
Jack McBain leads the Eagles in points with 20 (9G, 11A). Marc McLaughlin leads the team in goals as he has 12 this season. Eric Dop has played most of the minutes in net for BC making 14 starts. He has a 2.53 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.
BC has scored nine goals on the power play while having just 37 attempts. Their penalty kill has allowed nine goals on 41 tries.
Scouting New Hampshire
UNH is 7-9-1 this season despite having a 3-7-1 record in Hockey East play. Their last win came against Holy Cross on Nov. 27, on Dec. 3 and 4 they fell to Boston University 3-1 and lost in OT 2-1.
Jackson Pierson leads the Wildcats in both goals (6) and points (9) while Filip Engaras is second in both (4G, 8P). Mike Robinson has played just under 700 minutes in net for UNH and has a 2.36 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.
The Wildcats have a just a 11.1% power play percentage and have limited their opponents to just eight power-play goals.
Scouting Dartmouth
The Big Green are 2-8-1 this season with a 2-5-0 ECAC record. Dartmouth is coming off a 2-2 tie with Merrimack. Mark Gallant, Jeff Losurdo, and Sean Chisholm each have a team high seven points. Both Justin Ferguson and Clay Stevenson have played in six games with Stevenson having more minutes. Stevenson has a 2.44 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.
Dartmouth has scored just five times on 45 attempts on the power play this season. They have given up just seven goals on 45 penalty kills.
Looking at the Second Half
The Lakers will be back on the ice Jan. 4 as they make the return trip to Oxford, OH to take on Miami (OH).
After facing Miami on Jan. 4, the Lakers will play just conference games for the rest of the regular season. It will start on January 14th as they travel to AIC then return home the next weekend to face Air Force. The Lakers then go on the road for two weeks as they face Niagara and Army. Mercyhurst closes out the regular season with five of their final six games at home, their lone away game is against Canisius on Feb. 25.
Fan Policy
Dartmouth announced an updated fan policy on Dec. 22 that will limit the number of spectators for the games. The games will not be open to the general public. A limited number of guests of the student-athletes and coaches will be allowed on a pass list. For more information please click here.
