Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Men's Hockey team plays a pair of games this week against No. 20 Penn State. The Lakers go on the road Thursday night to face the Nittany Lions on the road before hosted PSU at home on Friday.
1. All-Time vs Penn State
Penn State did not start playing NCAA Division I hockey until the 2012-13 season in which they went 19-16-0. Mercyhurst and Penn State have only played three times at the Division I level and the Lakers are 1-2 against the Nittany Lions. Prior to the teams going to the Division I level the two programs played in the inaugural Mercyhurst season in 1987-88. The teams last played in the 2017-18 season in which the two teams split a weekend series. Penn State has not been to the 2016-17 season, the two teams played at the Erie Insurance Arena in downtown Erie.
2. Road Trip!
Mercyhurst went on the road last weekend for the first time in the 2022-23 season as they played against ECAC foe RPI. On Friday, the Lakers fell 6-3 as Rylee St. Onge, Kyler Head, and Philip Waugh scored in the loss. For Waugh it was his first career goal, he added an assist for his first career multi-point game. Matt Lenz took the net in relief of Tyler Harmon and made 20 saves on 21 shots.
The next day Lenz earned ths start as the Lakers fell 3-2 in overtime. Cade Townend scored his first of the season for the Lakers while Keanan Stewart also scored his first of the season in the contest. Lenz made 33 saves in game which is a new career high.
3. Spreading the Love
14 Lakers have points through the first four games of the season. Carson Briere, Mickey Burns, St. Onge, Waugh, and Stewart all have more then one point while seven Lakers have scored. Briere and Burns are tied for the team lead with three points, Briere has a goal and two assists while Burns has three assists. Brendon Michaelian is the only first year Laker to have a point this season as he had an assist on Saturday.
4. By The Numbers
The Lakers are third in the conference in shots per game as they are averaging 30 a game which is higher then last season when they averaged just over 28 shots a game. In the defensive zone the Lakers have blocked 63 shots which is the most in conference. Michaelian leads the Lakers with 10 blocks this season, he is leading the conference as well. Against RPI on Saturday, the Lakers tallied 39 shots which is the most any AHA team has had in a game this season.
5. Scouting Penn State
Penn State started their season last weekend as they took on fellow Atlantic Hockey member Canisius at home. The Nittany Lions took two wins from the Golden Griffins by scored of 5-2 and 7-5. Three of the last four seasons Penn State has started the season with a 2-0 record. Three players for the Nittany Lions scored five points in the opening weekend. Ryan Kirwan scored three goals in the weekend while he added two assists. 11 players notched a point last weekend with nine tallying more than one. Guy Gadowsky has been the only Head Coach in Penn State history and is in his 11th year in Happy Valley, as the bench boss for PSU he has a 172-152-14 record.
