ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst men's ice hockey team has officially released its 2025–26 schedule, ushering in the final season behind the bench for legendary head coach Rick Gotkin. This spring, Gotkin announced his plan to retire following the 2025-26 season, his 38th year at the helm of the Lakers.
Mercyhurst opens the 2025–26 campaign with a two-game road series in Ann Arbor where they face-off against Michigan Oct. 3-4.
The Lakers make their season debut at the Mercyhurst Ice Center Oct. 10 and 11, hosting Union in the first of four home series in October. They continue their home stretch against conference opponent Holy Cross Oct. 18 before welcoming UMass Lowell Oct. 24 and 25. The October home stretch concludes with a two-game series against Bentley beginning on Halloween.
Mercyhurst hits the road for a conference stretch against RIT Nov. 7-8. Conference play resumes later in the month at Canisius (Nov. 21-22). They conclude a month full of conference matchups with a home-and-home series against RMU Nov. 28-29.
The Lakers wrap up the 2025 calendar year with a conference contest at Holy Cross Dec. 6. The new year kicks off closing out non-conference play with a series out west against North Dakota (Jan. 2-3) before returning to the MIC Jan. 9 for a two-game series against Army.
A familiar AHA rivalry returns as the Lakers play Niagara in a home-and-home series Jan. 16-17. A four game home stand ensues as Canisius comes to the MIC Jan. 23-24 before RIT the following weekend (Jan. 30-31).
February opens with a pair of road series for Mercyhurst — first at Sacred Heart (Feb. 6-7), then the Lakers make their longest trip of the year to Air Force Feb. 13-14. The Green and White come back home Feb. 20 for another home-and-home series against Niagara.
Mercyhurst closes out their regular season with one last home-and-home series against RMU Feb. 27-28.
The AHA Postseason will open with single-game first round matchups on March 3. The No. 7 and No. 8 seeds will host the No. 10 and No. 9 seeds, respectively.
Best-of-three quarter final series will take place March 6-8. The semifinal best-of-three series will take place March 13-15 with the highest-remaining seeded quarter final winner hosting the lowest-seeded quarterfinal winner and the second-highest remaining seed hosting the third-highest remaining seed.
The postseason will conclude on March 21 when the two semifinal winners meet at the home of the highest-seeded semifinal winner for one game to determine Atlantic Hockey's 2026 postseason champion. The winner of the AHA postseason tournament will claim the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.
