Mercyhurst wasn’t getting a lot of puck luck earlier in the season.
Coach Rick Gotkin, in his 35th season behind the Lakers’ bench, felt that his squad was better than its 1-9-2 record indicated.
“I think that our early record said as much about our opponents as it did about us,” he said. “We played some really good teams.”
October presented challenges to a Lakers team looking to replace key pieces of a squad that reached the Atlantic Hockey semifinals last season but lost two of its top three scorers as well as its starting goaltender.
Gotkin ticked off his team’s early opponents.
“We had a ranked team in Ohio State and another in Penn State,” he said. “The better team won all four, but the games were close. We won at Clarkson and lost the second game, but I thought we actually played better the second night.
“We had good series with Niagara and Sacred Heart with overtimes where we had all kinds of chances to win and couldn’t get it done. The only real disappointment was (two losses) against RPI. We did not play well and deserved to lose.”
So when asked what has changed between those first 12 games (1-9-2) and the last four (4-0 including sweeps of Holy Cross and Air Force), Gotkin’s answer was, “Not much.”
“We’re really playing the same way because we weren’t all that bad,” he said. “I was really happy with our play. Holy Cross has been a tough place for us to play, historically. And Air Force has shown to be one of the best teams in the conference.
“That said, we still have a long way to go.”
Mercyhurst has had success in recent weeks with the platoon of rookie goaltender Owen Say and senior Tyler Harmon, a transfer from Vermont.
“We’ve been alternating them, and they’ve responded,” said Gotkin. “We like all three of our goalies. (Sophomore) Matt Lenz is a returner who has started a game for us as well.”
Senior Rylee St. Onge leads the team in scoring with 11 points, including a team-high seven goals. Behind him are sophomore Kyler Head (6-3-9) and junior Marko Reifenberger (3-5-8).
The Lakers are off this weekend, then host Army West Point on Dec. 9 and 10, followed by a three-week break. That means that after playing 16 games in nine weeks, Mercyhurst will play just twice over the next four.
Is Gotkin worried about losing the momentum of a four-game winning streak?
“I have mixed emotions,” he said. “Playing (this weekend) would probably have been a good thing. But that said, we’ve played a lot of hockey so far, so it will be nice to take a deep breath. We have Army and then we’re off for Christmas. Hopefully, we’ll use the downtime in a productive way.”
Even though the Lakers lost a huge group to graduation and the transfer portal, they’re a mature team with 13 seniors, looking to get back to at least the conference semifinals.
The recent winning streak vaulted the Lakers from last to a tie for fourth in the tightly packed Atlantic Hockey standings with a lot of hockey left to play.
The standings are even more critical this season thanks to the conference’s new postseason format. Only the top eight teams will qualify, leaving two (three next year with the return of Robert Morris) out in the cold.
This is due to the league dropping the neutral site, final four format and moving all postseason games on campus, holding the semifinals at the two highest seeds and the championship game at the highest surviving seed a week later.
The format has been successful for the CCHA, but that league has only eight teams. With ten and soon-to-be eleven schools, Atlantic Hockey would need an extra week for an additional round to include everyone. That’s not happening.
Gotkin isn’t in favor of the change.
“Student-athletes want to be able to compete as much as possible,” he said. “We’re denying a group of them the ability to compete in the postseason.
“I’m excited for (all rounds played at) on-campus sites, but not at the expense of a positive experience for every player. There’s nothing like playing for a championship.”
