MERCYHURST (4-22-2, 4-14-2 AHA) vs. AIR FORCE (14-12-2, 10-9-1 AHA)
Friday, Feb. 13 – 9:05 p.m. (EST)
Saturday, Feb. 14 – 7:05 p.m. (EST)
USAFA, Colo.   
TV: Flo Hockey
 
The Mercyhurst men's hockey team, coming off a come-from-behind, 2-1 victory over Sacred Heart, travels to Air Force for an away conference series. Game one will begin Friday, Feb. 13 at 9:05 p.m. The second game will take place at 7:05 p.m. the next day.
 
Previous Results
The Lakers have won four of their last ten games. They have shut out an AHA opponent twice in their past five series. They began the year at No. 12 Michigan and followed with a home series vs. Union. This series started a seven-game stretch on home ice. They began AHA play by hosting Holy Cross and then hosted UMass Lowell and Bentley. In November, they dropped a pair of tight conference matchups at RIT and Canisius. At the end of the month, they had a home-and-home against RMU. The Lakers picked up a point at RMU where they tied 1-1 before falling 3-2 in the shootout. Their lone matchup in December was a road contest at Holy Cross where they fell 4-1. 
 
The team began 2026 by traveling to No. 4 North Dakota. The Lakers fell 2-0 in game one and 6-1 in game two. Charles-Edward Gravel had an impressive showing with a career-high 46 saves in game one. Mercyhurst followed this with a series split at home vs. Army. They shut out the Black Knights 3-0 in game one and then got shut out 5-0 in game two. The Lakers then swept Niagara in a crucial home-and-home series that narrowed the gap in the AHA standings. They beat the Purple Eagles 3-0 in game one and 4-2 in game two. The first game had just two penalties, but the second game had 26. The team then played Canisius. In game one, they overcame a two-goal deficit to claim a 3-2 lead. The Golden Griffins clawed their way back, won that game, and won the next day. The Lakers then picked up a point in a 2-2 draw against (RV) RIT in a series split. 
 
Most recently, Mercyhurst was down 1-0 at Sacred Heart in the third period. The Pioneers scored a second goal, but a successful challenge from the Laker's coaching staff negated the goal. The Lakers then secured the comeback when Christian Kocsis netted the game-winning goal.  Freshman forward Alexander Dimitriadis played a pivotal role as he scored the equalizer and then assisted the game-winner. 

Matchup History
Mercyhurst is 20-30-5 against Air Force all-time. The series began on Jan. 5, 2007, where the Falcons swept the Lakers in Erie. Just a month later, MU swept AF in Colorado 7-5 and 3-2 (OT). The two sides have shared results in several series over the years. The Falcons longest unbeaten run occurred from Feb. 22, 2019, to March 7, 2020. AF went 4-0-2 in that span before the Lakers swept them 5-2 and 6-3 in Erie. One of the longest unbeaten runs for Mercyhurst took place during a three-game span from Feb. 2, 2007, to Nov. 2, 2007. The Lakers won 7-5, 3-2 (OT), and 5-3 during that time. The Lakers went on another run from Dec. 11, 2009, to Nov. 5, 2010, where they tied 3-3 and MU won 3-1 and 6-2. The most recent series between these teams took place in November of 2024, where the Falcons won 1-0 and 4-1 in Colorado. The Lakers are 10-15-2 on the road against Air force and are averaging at least 2.7 goals a game against them. The last time MU won at AF was 2018. AF sits sixth in the AHA with 30 points. 

Lakers to Look Out for
Will Schumacher (8G, 5A, 13 PTS) leads the Laker's scoring and points column. Schumacher has scored six goals in his last 14 games. He scored a goal and recorded two assists in game two vs. Niagara and in game one vs. Canisius. 
 
Dominik Bartecko has five goals and five assists. His ten points are tied for second on the team.  Bartecko had a two-point weekend in the team's home-and-home with Robert Morris at the end of November. Here, the Nashville native scored at home and assisted a powerplay goal on the road. To start 2026, Bartecko fired a rocket into the top left corner of the net to briefly give the Lakers a 1-0 lead at No. 4 North Dakota. He also scored an empty-netter against Army in the Laker's 3-0 win. Most recently, he scored and assisted in a 2-2 tie with (RV) RIT. 
 
Jacob LeBlanc leads the team assists with 10. J. LeBlanc recorded six assists in nine games throughout October and November. He recorded an assist on the powerplay with Bartecko in the team's 1-1 draw at Robert Morris. To start 2026, he assisted a goal in each game against Niagara and in game one vs. Canisius. 
 
Jacob's brother, Andrew LeBlanc, is tied for second on the team with 10 points. A. LeBlanc has four goals and six assists. He scored a goal and added an assist in game one vs. Canisius. This was his second multi-point game of the season. Two weeks ago, the LeBlanc brothers connected for A. LeBlanc's goal against (RV) RIT.
 
Defensively, Caleb Price, Kocsis, and John Larkin have led the way in stopping shots. Price leads the team with 39 blocks. He also had two points against (RV) two weeks ago. Kocsis (3G, 2A, 5 PTS, 35 BLKS) and Larkin (1G, 2A, 3 PTS, 35 BLKS) follow Price in blocks. 
 
Between the pipes, Charles-Edward Gravel has played the most games, 22. The Quebec native has a .901 save percentage, the highest on the team (per 33% of games played). Gravel had a career-high 46 saves in the Laker's narrow 2-0 loss to No. 4 North Dakota in game one. He picked up his first shutout and made 39 saves in the team's 3-0 win against Army two weeks ago. He then made 26 saves and kept his second consecutive shutout in a 3-0 win against Niagara. 
 
Salvatore Evola started against Niagara in game two of the first home-and-home series. Here, he made a season-high 36 saves in the teams 4-2 victory. Evola had another impressive showing at Sacred Heart last weekend, where he made 26 saves and only allowed one goal. 
 
Scouting Air Force   

• The Falcons are 14-12-2 overall and 10-9-1 in conference play.  
• They opened their season with an OT loss at Nebraska-Omaha and a tie/shootout win at home vs. Denver. 
• They fell to Colorado and St. Thomas in their next two matchups. 
• They beat St. Thomas, 6-2, in game two of the series. 
• At the end of October, they were swept by RIT and then swept Brown. 
• Air Force swept Sacred Heart on Nov. 7/8 and then they were swept by Holy Cross the week after. 
• On Nov. 21 they won 6-3 at Army and then defeated them 3-2 in OT to complete the sweep. 
• Canisius beat them, 6-3, and then the two sides shared points in a 3-3 draw. 
• They split with RMU in December to close the year. 
• The Falcons began the year with a 8-2 win vs. Michigan Tech and a 5-2 loss vs. Arizona State in the Desert Classic. 
• They were then swept by Bentley before spitting with Holy Cross. 
• Most recently, they swept Sacred Heart and split with Niagara. 
• Chris Hedden (11G, 15A, 26 PTS, 45 BLKS), Nick Sajevic (7G, 21A, 28 PTS), and Sam Sitz (10G, 18A, 28 PTS) lead the team in goals, assists, points, and blocks.