Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Men's Hockey team opens their season this weekend with a pair of games against No. 16 Ohio State.
1. Let's Recap
Mercyhurst finished the 2021-22 regular season by winning seven of their last ten games and secured home ice in the first round of the playoffs. Overall, the Lakers had a 16-19-4 record and went 10-12-4 in AHA play. In the postseason the Lakers used a pair of 2-1 wins over Holy Cross to advance to the AHA Quarterfinals on the road at Canisius. After a double overtime win in game one the Lakers won 3-1 in game two to advance to the AHA Final Four. Mercyhurst fell to the top ranked AIC Yellow Jackets 5-4 as their comeback came up just short.
2.All-Time vs OSU
The Lakers and Buckeyes have played 15 times dating back to the 1999-00 season, the two teams played each other in Columbus last season. Mercyhurst went into Columbus with a 2-2-1 record in their five previous wins which included a 5-2 win on the road over Canisius who was in the national polls. On Black Friday, the Lakers bargained for a win as they won 5-4 over the national ranked Buckeyes. The Lakers led 5-2 with just under 13 minutes remaining in the third and held off final OSU attack to earn at least a weekend split. The next night the Lakers fell 3-2 after Ohio State scored with less than nine minutes remaining in the third.
3. A Look at the Roster
Three of the top five-point getters from last season return for the Lakers. Carson Briere finished the season with 27 points to lead the Lakers while Rylee St. Onge scored 15 goals which led the Lakers.
The Lakers brought in five transfers this season after having just one last season. Brendon Michaelian, Eric Esposito, and Tyler Harmon are three grad transfers while Adrien Bisson is a senior and Steven Agrioginis is a junior.
St. Onge and Joseph Maziarz were named captains in the preseason while Cade Townend and Owen Norton will each wear an 'A' as assistant captains.
4. Preseason Poll
The AHA announced their annual preseason coaches' poll and after finishing the season in seventh place the Lakers have been ranked seventh in the poll.
AIC took the top spot as Air Force, RIT and Canisius rounded out the top-five, followed by Army West Point, Mercyhurst, Bentley, Niagara and Holy Cross in spots 6-10.
Briere was the only Laker to receive votes for the Preseason All-AHA team.
5. Scouting OSU
The Buckeyes are coming off a season in which they went 22-13-2 and 13-9-2 in B1G play. After earning home ice in the B1G Tournament, Ohio State took the first game of a three-game series against Penn State in Columbus. OSU went on to lose the following two games and have their season end in the B1G Quarterfinals. 23 players return this season for the Buckeyes as they have added just four freshmen to the roster this season.
Ticket Information
Limited tickets are still available for both the Saturday night game and Sunday afternoon game. Go to hurstathletics.com/tickets for more information.
