Erie, Pa.—Coming off their first sweep of the season against RIT, the Mercyhurst Men's Hockey team hosts the conference leading AIC Yellow Jackets.
The Matchup
Mercyhurst has played AIC 58 times going back to 1999.
The Lakers are 42-14-2 all-time against the Yellow Jackets. Despite the success all-time the Lakers are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games against the Yellow Jackets who have won the last three conference championships.
Going Back-To-Back-To-Back
Goaltender Kyle McClellan was named the AHA Goalie of the Week for the third straight week earlier this week after saving 75 of 77 shots against Niagara three weeks ago, 87 saves against Army two weekends ago, and 76 saves this past weekend against RIT
The 76 saves are the third highest amount of saves for a weekend this season in the AHA. McClellan owns the first, third, and fourth positions.
McClellan has made 30+ saves in 13 games this season, 35+ in 11 games and 40+ in seven games.
How Bout Those Sophomores
The Lakers are led by Austin Heidemann, Carson Briere, and Dante Sheriff who have 24, 23, and 20 points respectively. Briere has 11 goals which leads the team and is second in Atlantic Hockey.
The second year Lakers came in last year and contributed from the start, they had 63 points. This season the Lakers have three sophomores leading the team in points. The class has a combined 105 this season which the most among the Laker classes.
Old School vs New School
Mercyhurst Head Coach Rick Gotkin has been at helm for 34 seasons and will coach his 700th AHA game on Friday while AIC Head Coach Eric Lang has been the bench boss for six seasons.
Gotkin is closing in on win number 600 while Lang can win his 99th and 100th Division I games this weekend with a sweep.
Scouting AIC
AIC has won the last three Atlantic Hockey Championships and can clinch the regular season championship with two points this weekend.
Chris Theodore leads the Yellow Jackets in points with 25 and is tied for the team high 17 assists he has also added eight goals. AIC has five players with 20 or more points and six with double digit goals this season.
Two goalies have played in ten or more games this season. Jake Kucharski has played in 20 games and has a 2.52 goals against average and a .906 save percentage. Alec Calvaruso has played 10 games this season has split the last four games. Calvaruso has a .926 save percentage and 2.14 goals against average.
The AIC power play is 16th in the nation and second in the AHA. They have scored 26 times on 115 attempts. Their penalty kill is 32nd in the country as they have allowed 21 goals on 111 kills.
Playoffs?! Talking About Playoffs?!
The Lakers currently sit in ninth place in the AHA and can still earn 12 points this season by winning out. The difference between second place in the AHA and tenth place is just 13 points with every team having four games remaining in conference play.
The first round will consist of a three-game series with the seven and eight seeds hosting the ninth and tenth seeds.
The Atlantic Hockey Association and the City of Utica announced on Dec. 9 that it will hold its 2022 Atlantic Hockey Championship March 18-19, 2022 at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, N.Y.
Up Next
The Lakers close out the regular season next weekend as they play a home and home series with Canisius who is currently second in the AHA.
