Rochester, N.Y. — It's a monumental day for Mercyhurst Hockey, not only did they bounce back to beat a highly regarded and very tough RIT team, but Head Coach Rick Gotkin reached a prestigious mark of 600 wins. Gotkin joins as the 16th collegiate coach to reach the milestone and only the 7th to do so with the same team. Gotkin has spent over three decades of winning at Mercyhurst. He's taken the Lakers to the playoffs 33 times and is the only coach ever to take a team to the NCAA tournament in a three levels of play. Time and time again he's shown his dedication to the school, his players, the program, and everyone who supports them.

How It Happened
Coming off a 5-2 loss yesterday, the Lakers looked determined to flip the script on the first place Tigers. They sustained an early attack from RIT, with freshman goalie Simon Bucheler looking steady in goal at the start. Mercyhurst went on a power play ten minutes in, but to no avail. Only seconds after the power play ended, the Lakers struck with Boris Skalos finding the back of the net of a rebounded shot from Mickey Burns, who picks up the assist along with Dustin Geregach. The Tigers pushed hard to close out the period, though still not being able to come away with a goal, sending it to the second period 1-0 in favor of Mercyhurst.

The second period is where the Lakers showed their grit, going into the period with a penalty picked up at the end of the first. They needed to be sharp defensively and they were as RIT threw a barrage of shots on goal. Bucheler continued his heroics into the period amassing an astonishing 21 saves in the period alone, which is more than RIT had in the entire game. It was headed into the final period a riveting 1-0 game still.

Despite yet another early onslaught of goals, Mercyhurst was determined to close out the victory. They saw their chance when they got a power play six minutes in on a cross check, and took it. A very similar looking goal to the first one they scored, Adrien Bisson's shot deflected left off the keeper and Keanan Stewart flew in to slot it home. Team leader in assists, Garrett Dahm, was also involved in the lead up, getting an assist along with Bisson. The boys bunkered down to wind out the clock, getting two massive penalty kills to finish out regulation, securing their 2-0 victory over the Tigers.

Highlights
Freshman Boris Skalos scored his 4th goal of the season, tying the team lead. Keanan Stewart picked up his 2nd on the season.
Garrett Dahm got his team leading 6th assist, Dustin Geregach collected his fourth, while Mickey Burns and Adrien Bisson both got their 3rd.
Simon Bucheler saved a new season high 51 goals on the night in an incredible performance.

Scoring Summary
P1: 12:15 - Boris Skalos from Mickey Burns and Dustin Geregach

P3: 7:30 (PP) - Keanan Stewart from Adrien Bisson and Garrett Dahm

Next Up
The Lakers finally return home to take on Air Force in a two game set, with game one at 7:00 pm on Saturday, November 18th.