2008 Woodie Awards
Split with Mercyhurst keeps men's hockey in second in AHA
Mikaekla Reynolds
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Sports
The scene was set as the fifth-place Mercyhurst Lakers traveled to Milford on Friday attempting to take down Sacred Heart and its second-place AHA ranking.
The Lakers earned a 4-3 victory on Friday, but fell to the Pioneers 6-3 on Saturday, allowing them to maintain their ranking.
Mercyhurst entered the weekend series just two points behind Sacred Heart. With such tight standings in the conference this year, every game counts.
The series with Mercyhurst was just the beginning of a tough stretch of games to close out the season which includes matchups with Holy Cross and Army.
"We knew Army won going into the game and Saturday's win took us to second which keeps us in the hunt for first place," said Coach Shaun Hannah.
"We're just playing our game," said junior Bear Trapp. "We'll worry about Army when we play them."
In the first game, Sacred Heart held Mercyhurst to just one power-play goal in seven opportunities. The following night, the Pioneers again held the Lakers to just two power-play goals in nine chances.
"Penalties are an issue we need to address," said Hannah. "We've got to show a little more discipline. We gave up only two-for-nine in penalty play goals which is pretty solid. When we found ourselves in a man-down position, I thought we did a nice job defending our goal," said Hannah.
In turn, Mercyhurst was able to hold the Pioneers to one power-play goal in six opportunities and two power-play goals in five chances, respectively.
"We work on our power-play every practice," said Parent. "We're changing it every week just so the other teams can't get used to it. Then, they never know what to expect. That's why we get so many goals."
Friday night's game began with Mercyhurst completely dominating the ice. Seniors Ben Cottreau and Kerry Bowman scored early goals for the Lakers.
Closing in on the two-goal lead was sophomore Dave Jarman who scored off an assist from sophomore Corey Laurysen, bringing the score to 2-1.
The Lakers earned a 4-3 victory on Friday, but fell to the Pioneers 6-3 on Saturday, allowing them to maintain their ranking.
Mercyhurst entered the weekend series just two points behind Sacred Heart. With such tight standings in the conference this year, every game counts.
The series with Mercyhurst was just the beginning of a tough stretch of games to close out the season which includes matchups with Holy Cross and Army.
"We knew Army won going into the game and Saturday's win took us to second which keeps us in the hunt for first place," said Coach Shaun Hannah.
"We're just playing our game," said junior Bear Trapp. "We'll worry about Army when we play them."
In the first game, Sacred Heart held Mercyhurst to just one power-play goal in seven opportunities. The following night, the Pioneers again held the Lakers to just two power-play goals in nine chances.
"Penalties are an issue we need to address," said Hannah. "We've got to show a little more discipline. We gave up only two-for-nine in penalty play goals which is pretty solid. When we found ourselves in a man-down position, I thought we did a nice job defending our goal," said Hannah.
In turn, Mercyhurst was able to hold the Pioneers to one power-play goal in six opportunities and two power-play goals in five chances, respectively.
"We work on our power-play every practice," said Parent. "We're changing it every week just so the other teams can't get used to it. Then, they never know what to expect. That's why we get so many goals."
Friday night's game began with Mercyhurst completely dominating the ice. Seniors Ben Cottreau and Kerry Bowman scored early goals for the Lakers.
Closing in on the two-goal lead was sophomore Dave Jarman who scored off an assist from sophomore Corey Laurysen, bringing the score to 2-1.
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