March 12, 2008

Erie, Pa. -

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Matt Lundin is getting hot at the right time. The Mercyhurst junior goaltender stopped 69 of 71 shots last weekend in a two-game sweep of Canisius. The Lakers hope his superb play continues this weekend as the No. 5 seed Lakers (13-18-7) battle No. 4 Sacred Heart (16-18-3) Friday night in Rochster in a conference play-in game.

Sacred Heart won the season series against Mercyhurst 2-1-1 and holds a 16-11-3 advantage in the all-time series. Friday's game starts at 7:05. The winner will advance to the conference semifinals Saturday against No. 1 seed Army at 4:05. Army finished first in the regular season and took two straight games from American International College last weekend at West Point. No. 3 Air Force and No. 2 RIT will meet in the other semifinal contest Saturday night at 7:35. The two winners will play for the conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament Sunday night at 7:05.

Fast Facts

• The Lakers have scored a power play goal in five straight games and 11 of their last 13.

• Mercyhurst held Canisius to just one power play goal in 18 chances in the two games and killed four separate 5-on-3 situations, two in each game.

• The Lakers have scored more than three goals in a game only nine times this season. They are 8-0-1 when doing so.

• Mercyhurst has played ten overtime games this season (1-2-7), tying the club-record set last year. The only win came last Saturday against Canisius.

• Mercyhurst has been outshot in 25 of 38 games and has won only once (RIT) when trailing after two periods.

• Junior Matt Pierce has put together an eight-game scoring streak; he's scored six goals, including five power play, and added six assists during that time.

• Senior Ben Cottreau is now tied for 7th all time in scoring (154 points; John Evangelista) and 8th in assists (94). He's tied for 4th in career power play goals with 26. He is tied for the team lead in goals with 12 (Matt Pierce) and leads in points with 34. Cottreau has a four-game scoring streak and has at least one point in 8 if his last 9 games.

• Sophomore Chris Risi's three-game goal-scoring streak ended Saturday.

• Senior Kerry Bowman scored the game-winner Saturday night in overtime. It was his 5th goal of the season and 3rd game-winner of his career.

• Junior Brett Robinson had his second 2-point game of the season in Friday's 4-1 win.

• Sophomore Cullen Eddy had his first two-assist game of the season Friday.

• Junior goaltender Matt Lundin stopped a combined 69 of 71 Canisius shots (.972) in the two wins.

• Freshman Mike Gurtler's goal in Friday's 4-1 verdict was his first since February 2 at Holy Cross.

• Mercyhurst and Sacred Heart have met only once previously in the conference playoffs. The Pioneers edged Mercyhurst 3-2 March 14, 2004, in the Atlantic Hockey semifinals at Army. The winning goal was scored shorthanded late in the middle period.

• Mercyhurst went 1-2-1 against Sacred Heart this season. The win came at SHU on February 15 by a score of 4-3. Mercyhurst hadn't defeated Sacred Heart since a 3-1 win in Erie November 19, 2005, and had been 0-7-1 in the last eight meetings. The Pioneers got a weekend split by winning 6-3 the next day.

• Sacred Heart outscored Mercyhurst 14-11 in the four games and had a 140-124 advantage in shots.

• Eleven of the combined 25 goals in the four games this season came on special teams. Mercyhurst had four power play goals. Sacred Heart tallied seven of its 14 goals on special teams; SHU scored five times with the man advantage and twice shorthanded.

• Matt Fennell, Kerry Bowman, Brandon Coccimiglio, and Matt Pierce scored for the Lakers with the man advantage.

• Mercyhurst goaltender Matt Lundin had a combined save percentage of .906 in the four games and a goal-against-average of 3.15. Sacred Heart had numbers of .911 and 2.66.