MERCYHURST (4-23-3, 4-15-3 AHA) vs. NIAGARA (10-19-1, 7-14-1 AHA)
Friday, Feb. 20 – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 21 – 7:00 p.m. 
Erie, Pa. / Niagara Falls, N.Y.   
TV: Flo Hockey
 
The Mercyhurst men's hockey team has found some success in their past two series. They came from behind to defeat Sacred Heart a couple of weeks ago and last week they picked up two points at Air Force. This week, they take on Niagara for another home-and-home series. Game one features pregame Senior Night honors and puck drop is set for Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. in Erie. The second game will take place at 7 p.m. the next day at Niagara. 
 
Previous Results
The Lakers are 4-8-2 since Jan. 2. 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. 
 
Two weeks ago, 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. 
 
Most recently, the Lakers played a highly competitive series at Air Force. The two sides shared a 3-3 tie in game one, and the Lakers secured the extra point in a ten-attempt shootout, 3-2. The Falcons then narrowly beat the Lakers 5-4 in game two. 
 
Matchup History
Mercyhurst has an overall record of 24-27-7 against Niagara. The first matchup between the two sides took place in October of 1996 when the Lakers won 3-1. Niagara then won 6 of the next seven matchups and drew one in that span as well. Both teams have had a stretch or two of dominant runs against the other. From November of 2013 to January of 2018, the Lakers went 11-1-3. From January of 2019 to March of 2021 the Purple Eagles went 8-2-1 with a six-game win streak in there. Since, the two sides have shared results. The second to last series between these two was a home-and-home that Mercyhurst won 5-1 at home and Niagara won 6-3 at home.

As of late, MU won the home-and-home in January. The Lakers are 15-11-3 at home against Niagara. Niagara is 15-9-4 at home against Mercyhurst. MU is last in the AHA with 16 points and NU is eighth with 24 points. All signs say that this series could really go either way, but MU will look to close the gap.  

Lakers to Look Out for
Will Schumacher (8G, 5A, 13 PTS) leads the Laker's scoring and points column. Schumacher went on a three-game scoring streak at the end of October. He also scored a goal and recorded two assists in game two vs. Niagara and in game one vs. Canisius. 
 
Dominik Bartecko has six goals and six assists. His twelve 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. He then scored and assisted in a 2-2 tie with (RV) RIT. Most recently, he scored and assisted in the team's 5-4 loss at Air Force.  
 
Jacob LeBlanc leads the team assists with 12. 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. He recently registered an assist in each game in the Air Force series  
 
Jacob's brother, Andrew LeBlanc, is third 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. A few 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 47 blocks and he has four assists to his tally. Two of those assists came in the (RV) RIT series in January and he recorded two assists in game two against Air Force last weekend. Kocsis (4G, 3A, 7 PTS, 37 BLKS) and Larkin (1G, 3A, 4 PTS, 36 BLKS) follow Price in blocks. 
 
Between the pipes, Charles-Edward Gravel has played the most games, 23. 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. He then made 26 saves and kept his second consecutive shutout in a 3-0 win against Niagara. 
 
Salvatore Evola has been showing out recently. He started against Niagara in game two of the first home-and-home series. Here, he made a then season-high 36 saves in the teams 4-2 victory. Evola had another impressive showing at Sacred Heart, where he made 26 saves and only allowed one goal. Against Air Force, Evola made a career-high 40 saves in the team's 3-3 tie. HJe also made the game-winning save in the shutout. He made another 31 saves in game two. 
 
Scouting Niagara   

• The Purple Eagles started the season with a three-game win streak. They beat St. Lawrence 5-2 and swept Bowling Green 2-0 and 5-2. 
• They then were swept in series by Union, Robert Morris, and Holy Cross. 
• In mid-November, Niagara swept Army 6-4 and 4-1 at home. 
• Just a few days later they beat RIT 2-1 in OT off a game-winning goal from Ethan Lund. 
• RPI swept them 4-1 and 3-2 before they split their series with Bentley.
• They defeated Guelph 4-2 at home on New Year's Eve before starting 2026 with a 6-2 loss to Clarkson. 
• The Purple Eagles lost a home series to Sacred Heart after falling 5-4 in OT and 4-2 in game two. 
• Mercyhurst then swept them 3-0 in Erie and 4-2 in New York. 
• They picked up a point in their home-and-home against RIT and then split with Canisius and Air Force.  
• They fell 2-1 to RIT on 2/10 and most recently split with RMU, winning 5-2 and losing 5-1. 
• Marshall Finnie (10G, 7A, 17 PTS), Noah Hacket (10G, 5A, 15 PTS), Declan McDonnell (8G, 11A, 19 PTS), Lane Brockhoff (3G, 9A, 12 PTS, 45 BLKS) lead Niagara in goals, assists, points, and blocks.