Mercyhurst Hockey Hosts Bentley Friday and Saturday

January 7, 2004

Courtesy of Mercyhurst Sports Information Department

Contact: John Leisering

Mercyhurst (7-9-1; AH 4-3-0) vs. Bentley (3-9-4; AH 1-4-4)

Dates: Friday and Saturday, January 9 and 10

Times: 7:30pm

Site: Mercyhurst Ice Center (1,500)

Radio: WMCE (88.5/104.9FM)

Television: Image Sports (Saturday only; Channel 20 in the city, Channel 12 in the county)

The Coaches: Rick Gotkin (Brockport State ‘82) is in his 16th season at Mercyhurst with an overall record of 285-164-27. Ryan Soderquist (Bentley ’00) is in his second year at Bentley with an overall mark of 18-28-4.

The Series: Mercyhurst has an 11-3-1 lifetime advantage over the Falcons, including a 2-1-0 mark last season. Bentley won in Erie 6-5; Mercyhurst returned the favor 4-2 at Bentley and then ended the Falcons' season with a 10-2 win in the MAAC Hockey League Semi-Finals held at Army.

Scouting Mercyhurst: Mercyhurst lost two non-conference games at Clarkson last weekend, 4-3 in overtime last Friday and 8-2 Saturday. The contests were the last in a marathon 10-game road trip during which Mercyhurst went 3-6-1. There are 17 games left on the regular season schedule, all Atlantic Hockey (AH) contests, with eight at the Ice Center. Mercyhurst hasn't had a home game since Saturday, November 15, when it lost 6-5 in overtime to Holy Cross. The Lakers have now played four overtime games this season and are 1-2-1.

Mercyhurst is led in scoring by junior forward David Wrigley with 18 points. Wrigley took over the team lead in goals last weekend with nine while junior forward Rich Hansen is tops in assists with 14. Senior forward Adam Tackaberry has seven power-play goals on the season, while sophomore forwards Scott Reynolds and Erik Johnson have notched two short-handed goals. Sophomore Andy Franck has seen the majority of the time in goal and has a 5-5-1 record, 3.73 goals against average, and a .891 save percentage. Freshman Jordan Wakefield started the second game at Clarkson and played 29 minutes, allowing five goals. Wakefield has a 2-4-0 record, 3.90 goals against average, and a .897 save percentage. Mercyhurst has cashed 24 of 88 power play chances (.273) and has killed 78 of 94 opponent opportunities (.830). The Lakers are 2-2-0 at home. Both losses came to conference rival Holy Cross last November.

Scouting Bentley: After a 1-9-2 start this season, the Falcons are unbeaten in their last four (2-0-2) and picked up their first conference win Tuesday with a 3-2 win at Sacred Heart. Sophomore forward Jake Plattner scored at 15:16 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie. Plattner, playing in just his third game of the year, netted his second goal of the season when he found himself in position for a rebound after a shot from the point.

Bentley opened a 2-0 lead after a period, but Sacred Heart used two goals 53 seconds apart to tie the game at 2-2 with just over seven minutes to play in the third period.

Junior goaltender Simon St. Pierre had a solid day for the Falcons, making 26 saves.

St. Pierre owns a 3-7-4 record, a save percentage of .909, and a goals against average of 3.06. The Falcons have four players with ten-or-more points. Sophomore forwards Paul Markarian and Brendan McCartin share the scoring lead with eleven points apiece. Markarian has the most goals (6) while junior defenseman Seth Vinocur is tops in assists with ten. The Falcons have converted 14 of 85 power play chances (.165) and have killed 97 of 117 shorthanded situations (.829). Bentley is 3-5-1 away from home.

Up Ahead: Mercyhurst will remain at the Ice Center Friday and Saturday, January 16 and 17 for Atlantic Hockey games against America International College. Each game will begin at 7:30.