No. 10 MERCYHURST (6-26-3, 5-18-3 AHA) vs. No. 1 BENTLEY (18-11-5, 16-6-4 AHA)
Friday, March 6 – 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 7 – 6 p.m. 
Sunday, March 8 – 6 p.m. (If needed)
Waltham, Mass.    
TV: Flo Hockey
 
The Mercyhurst men's hockey team will travel northeast to Massachusetts to play No. 1 Bentley in the AHA Quarterfinals. The Lakers are the 10 seed in the playoffs and just beat No. 7 Canisius, 5-2. Game one against Bentley is set for Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m. Game two is at 6 p.m. the following day and game three, if it is needed, will also begin at 6 p.m. 
 
Season Results
The Lakers are 6-11-2 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. 
 
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. 
 
The Lakers then 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. Two weeks ago, the squad picked up a series split in a feisty affair vs. Niagara. The Lakers were swept by RMU in their final home-and-home series of the season. The high note of the night was the pre and post-game celebrations for Head Coach Rick Gotkin for his 38 years with the Lakers. 

Most recently, Mercyhurst played No. 7 Canisius in the first round of the AHA playoffs. The Lakers took the lead in the first period, and then led for the entirety of the game to pick up a 5-2 victory. Gravel set a new career-high in saves with 47, and the Lakers scored five goals despite having just 13 shots. 
 
Matchup Insights
Mercyhurst has an overall record of 29-25-8 vs. Bentley since 2003. The first matchup in in 2003-04 season took place on 1/9/04 when the Lakers swept 2-1 and 3-2. They went 4-0 against Bentley that season, knocking them out of the playoffs too. Bentley's first win was on 1/28/05 when the Falcons won 5-4. The Lakers then went on a nine-game unbeaten streak where they won seven in-a-row and then tied twice.  The Falcons then won their second matchup in November of 2008 5-2. The series was pretty even for the next 10 or so years. It was in November of 2020 where Bentley began to dominate the series. In the last 13 games, the Lakers are 1-11-1 since then. The only win in that stretch came in January of 2023 where they won 4-3 in Erie. In the postseason, Mercyhurst is 3-2 against Bentley in the AHA postseason, specifically 3-1 in quarterfinal contests. The stats back Mercyhurst, but this season has been tough for them and successful for Bentley. 
 
 *All statistical info dates back to 2003 on the MU Athletics website.*
 
Lakers to Look Out for
Dominik Bartecko has eight goals and nine assists for a team-high 17 points. He is tied for first on the team in goals with Will Schmuacher. 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. He scored and assisted in the team's 5-4 loss at Air Force and in the team's recent 3-2 win vs. Niagara. In fact, he has seven points in his last five games. 
 
Will Schumacher (8G, 5A, 13 PTS) is tied with Bartecko for goals. 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. 
 
Jacob LeBlanc leads the team assists with 14. 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 registered an assist in each game in the Air Force series and in the February series vs. Niagara. 
 
Jacob's brother, Andrew LeBlanc, is tied for 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. The LeBlanc brothers connected for A. LeBlanc's goal against (RV) RIT. 
 
Defensively, Christian Kocsis, John Larkin, and Lukas Klemm are leading the way in blocks. Kocsis (5G, 5A, 10 PTS, 47 BLKS) and Larkin (1G, 5A, 6 PTS, 47 BLKS) are tied. Klemm (1G, 7A, 8 PTS, 37 BLKS) returns from an injury and trails the other two in blocks. 
 
Between the pipes, Charles-Edward Gravel has played the most games, 26. The Quebec native has a .904 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. Most recently, broke his career-high in saves with 47 against Canisius in the first round of the AHA playoffs. 
 
Salvatore Evola has also 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 then career-high 40 saves in the team's 3-3 tie. He also made the game-winning save in the shutout. He made another 31 saves in game two. Most recently, the Laker's senior netminder recorded a new career high of 58 saves in the team's 5-3 loss at RMU. Evola has a .913 save percentage this season and is 3-3-1. 
 
Scouting No. 1 Bentley    

• The Falcons locked in the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye a few weeks before the regular season ended. 
• They are 18-11-5 overall and 16-6-4 in conference play. 
• The Falcons, with all the success they have had this season, actually started the season 0-3. They fell to Colorado, Denver, and UMass. 
• When they began AHA play, they swept Canisius and Mercyhurst late in October. 
• They then tied and beat Army and split with Alaska Anchorage.
• The Falcons then beat RIT and Army toward the end of November before getting blanked by New Hampshire. 
• On Dec. 5, the Falcons lost their first AHA game to Niagara, 3-1. 
• They began the new year with an 8-3 rout of Holy Cross, swept Air Force, and lost and tied with Sacred Heart. 
• Bentley played Princeton, beat them 4-1 in game one, and then beat them 3-2 in a shootout in game two. 
• They then split with RMU, Holy Cross, and beat Army 4-3 in OT. 
• In mid-to-late February, the Falcons split with Sacred Heart, beat RIT 4-3, and got swept by Air Force. 
• Bentley's powerplay percentage (.218) and goals allowed average (2.4) are the highest in the AHA. 
• Jake Black (16G, 19A, 35 PTS), Stephen Castagna (11G, 17A, 28 PTS), Kellan Hjartarson (7G, 19A, 26 PTS), and Colton Cameron (3G, 3A, 6 PTS, 45 BLKs) lead the team in goals, assists, points, and blocks.