Merchyhurst Playes RPI Sunday at Rensselaer/HSBC Tournament

December 27, 2003

Mercyhurst (6-6-1) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (8-5-2)

Date: Sunday, December 28

Time: 7:00pm

Site: Houston Field House (5,217); Troy, NY

The Coaches: Rick Gotkin (Brockport State ‘82) is in his 16th season at Mercyhurst with an overall record of 284-161-27. Dan Fridgen (Colgate ‘82) is in his 10th year at RPI with an overall mark of 169-144-30.

The Series: Rensselaer leads 3-0. The Engineers won last year 5-3 in Troy, NY. Both teams have played three common opponents this season: Connecticut, Army, and St. Lawrence. The Lakers are 2-1 against the trio while RPI is 1-1-1.

Scouting Mercyhurst: After starting the season 4-1, including a 3-2 win at Ohio State, Mercyhurst is 2-5-1 in its last eight and has been idle since December 13 when the Lakers lost 5-2 at St. Lawrence. St. Lawrence junior forward Stace Page’s second goal of the season, midway in the third period, snapped a 2-2 tie. It was the first ever meeting between the two teams. St. Lawrence outshot Mercyhurst 46-24. Junior forward David Wrigley (pp) and senior forward Peter Rynshoven scored for the Lakers. Mercyhurst freshman goaltender Jordan Wakefield, who relieved sophomore starter Andy Franck late in the first period, took the loss. Mercyhurst is led in scoring by junior forward Rich Hansen with 16 points. Senior forward Adam Tackaberry and sophomore forward Scott Reynolds lead the team with seven goals apiece, while Hansen is tops in assists with 13. Tackaberry has six power-play goals on the season, while both Reynolds and Johnson have notched two short-handed goals. Franck has seen the majority of the time in goal and has a 5-4-1 record, 3.68 goals against average, and a .898 save percentage. Wakefield has a 1-2-0 record, 2.93 goals against average, and a .920 save percentage. Mercyhurst has cashed 21 of 68 power play chances (.309) and has killed 55 of 67 opponent opportunities (.821). The Lakers are 4-4-1 on the road. At this time last year, Mercyhurst was 4-8-1 and went on to win 22 games.

Scouting RPI: The Engineers have been idle since December 6 when they won a home conference game against Princeton 6-4. The victory snapped a modest two-game losing streak with a road loss at New Hampshire 4-3 and a home setback to Yale 5-4. Sophomore forward Kevin Croxton leads five players in double figures with 15 points. Sophomore forward Kirk MacDonald and Croxton are tops with six goals apiece while Croxton is best with nine assists. MacDonald has four power play goals.

Senior goaltender Nathan Marsters has a 7-4-1 record, 2.73 goals against average, and .898 save percentage. The Engineers have converted 16 of 84 power play chances (.190) and have killed 63 of 73 shorthanded situations (.863). Rensselaer is 5-1-2 at home.

Up Ahead: Mercyhurst will conclude tournament play Monday, December 29, with a contest against either Northeastern or Colgate at 4:00 or 7:00pm. The Lakers will end their marathon eleven-game road trip Friday and Saturday, January 2 and 3, at Clarkson. They will return to the Ice Center Friday and Saturday, January 9 and 10, for Atlantic Hockey games against Bentley. Each game will begin at 7:30.