Buffalo, NY. - The Mercyhurst Men's Ice Hockey team enters the AHA Tournament as the #9 seed and will travel to #8 Canisius for a one game playoff to determine who will advance to the quarterfinals.     

History Lesson 

The Lakers and Griffins met three times during the regular season, with each team grabbing a regulation win, and the Lakers grabbing a shootout win in their first matchup.  In the past two years the Lakers are 1-3-1 against the Griffins.   

Last Time Out 

The Lakers played Niagara three times last week.  Their first matchup of the week came on Tuesday, which was a makeup game from earlier in the year.  The Lakers fell 4-1 with the lone goal coming from Spencer Smith.  In game two on Thursday, the Lakers bounced back with a convincing 6-1 win.  The Lakers had five different goal scorers, Boris Skalos, Garrett Dahm, Steven Agriogianis, Ryan Coughlin, and Spencer Smith.  The Lakers also had 11 different players record a point in the win.  Owen Say stopped 34 shots and got the win in net.  The final game between the Lakers and the Purple Eagles came on Saturday.  A fast-paced game throughout saw the Purple Eagles come away with the win 4-3.  The Lakers got goals from Boris Skalos, Garrett Dahm, and Adrien Bisson.     

Stats Leaders 

Boris Skalos leads the team in goals with 15.  Skalos scored three times during the week to extend his lead in the goals department.  Garrett Dahm leads the Lakers in assists with 20 and points with 27.  Dahm had two goals and three assists during the week to add to his totals.  Owen Say is 8-16-4 in net with a .914 save percentage, 3.18 GAA, and 925 saves.      

A Look at the Opponent 

The Griffins finished the regular season with a record of 11-19-4 overall and 10-12-4 in the AHA.  Matteo Giampa leads the Griffins in goals with 18 and points with 33.  Giampa is also tied for the team lead in assists with Max Kouznetsov at 15 assists.  David Fessenden and Ethan Robertson split time in net this year.  Fessenden had more games played, more wins, a higher goal allowed average at 3.38, and more saves with 546.  Robertson had the higher save percentage at .900.       

AHA Tournament 

The Lakers are the #9 seed in the AHA tournament and the Griffins are the #8 seed.  Other games in action this weekend include #10 Army and #7 Niagara, and #11 Robert Morris and #6 Bently.  March 8-10 will be the quarterfinals, where the top seeded RIT will host the lowest remaining seed.  #5 AIC and #4 Air Force is already set.  

Puck-drop in Buffalo is set for 6:05 PM.