Men’s Ice Hockey Opens Two-Game AHA Road Swing Friday

Date	Fri.-Sat., Oct. 12-13, 2018 (7pm // 7pm)
Matchup	Merrimack (0-2-0, 0-0-0 HEA) Bentley (0-0-0, 0-0-0 AHA) Army West Point (0-1-0, 0-0-0 AHA)
Location	Fri: Bentley Arena // Waltham, Mass. (Tickets) Sat: Tate Rink // West Point, N.Y. (Tickets)
Multimedia	Fri: Live Stats // Watch ($) // Listen Sat: Live Stats // Watch ($) // Listen
Game Notes	Merrimack

 
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team hits the road for the first time this season when it opens up a two-game swing at a pair of Atlantic Hockey opponents this weekend. The Warriors visit Bentley University on Friday (Oct. 12) night before traveling to Army West Point on Saturday.

Inside the Series (Bentley)

• While a common opponent on all of Merrimack's Division II sport schedules in the NE10, Merrimack and Bentley have only met six previous times in men's ice hockey.
•  The last showdown occurred just about a year ago at Lawler Rink. Bentley built an early lead, but it was short-lived as the Warriors powered their way to a 5-2 win.
• That helped Merrimack improve to 6-0-0 all-time against Bentley, with an even 3-0-0 mark at home and 3-0-0 on the road.
• Friday will mark the first time that Merrimack and Bentley have played a game on Bentley's campus since the early 1980s. The Warriors won those two meetings, as well as one meeting at the JAR in Watertown. Now, the Falcons have an on-campus arena to call their own, and the Warriors will make their first trip there on Friday night.

Inside the Series (Army West Point)

• Saturday's showdown will mark the 41^st meeting in a series that dates back to 1959 between Merrimack and Army West Point, and the 28th such meeting on the road.
• The Warriors lead the series, 23-16-1, and more impressively, Merrimack has never lost or tied at home (13-0-0) in 13 tries against the Black Knights.
• Down in West Point, the advantage is in Army's favor, as the Warriors have gone 10-16-1 on the road against the Black Knights.
• Merrimack had won 14 straight dating back to 1991, but that streak was snapped two years ago after the Black Knights won, 3-2, on Dec. 29, 2015 in West Point.
• The two schools did meet in North Andover last December, which was a 4-1 Merrimack victory.

'Mack Facts

• Merrimack kicked off the 2018-19 season with a pair of hard-fought battles against Lake Superior State last weekend. The Warriors dropped them both by one-goal margins but had plenty of opportunities to win on each night.
• Junior defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic started the season with a three-point outing in the season opener in Saturday's 5-4 loss. The Winnipeg Jets draft selection set a career-high with three assists and three points in one game. Classmate Tyler Irvine also had two points in that game on a goal and an assist, while other goal-scorers included junior Sami Tavernier and sophomores Laine McKay and Jackson Bales.
• Six players made their debut as Warriors: five freshmen forwards did so in the form of Chase Gresock, Jordan Seyfert, Chase Olsen, Logan Drevitch and Christian Simeone, while graduate student transfer Matt McArdle also laced up on defense.
• Seniors Drew Vogler and Craig Pantano each started in net; Pantano had the better of the performances with 23 saves on 24 shots, good for a .958 save percentage.
• Behind the bench, first-year head coach Scott Borek made his Merrimack debut, coincidentally enough against the team he spent five years as head coach for.

Falcon Focus

• Bentley returns 18 players from last season's squad that went 13-18-6 (10-16-5 AHA).
• Sophomore Luke Santerno is the leading returning scorer after he recorded 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points last season, while senior defenseman Tanner Jago is the team's second highest returning scorer after six goals and 22 assists last season.
• Junior goalie Aidan Pelino returns between the pipes with 36 starts in his first two seasons. He owns a career 2.79 goals against average and .914 save percentage.
• On the blue line, five defensemen return who played in at least 31 games last season.
• In 2017-18, Bentley ranked 43rd nationally in scoring (2.59) and 41st in defense (3.08); their power play ranked 14th (22.0) and penalty kill was 47th nationally (77.9).
• Ryan Soderquist is in his 17th season behind the bench at Bentley and is 213-294-73.

Black Knight Briefing

• Army is a year removed from a 15-15-6 season that included a 12-10-6 mark in Atlantic Hockey.
• Four of the Black Knights' top six scorers are all back in the fold and all recorded 20-plus points a year ago. Juniors Michael Wilson and Dominic Franco both had 30 points, the former thanks to a team-high 18 goals while the latter did so on the strength of 18 assists.
• Alex Wilkinson, a defenseman, also had a productive year on the blue line with 21 points.
• Sophomore Jared Dempsey is the only goalie on the roster with experience from last year after playing in 10 games (nine starts) and finishing with a .923 save percentage and 2.44 GAA.
• Army dropped a 4-1 affair to Union in its season opener and will play UConn on Friday before the Warriors head to town Saturday night.
• In 2017-18, Army ranked 44^th nationally in scoring (2.58) and 17^th in defense (2.53); their power play ranked 32^nd (18.5) and penalty kill was third nationally (88.1).
• Brian Riley is in his 15^th season behind the bench at Army and is 169-259-72.

Up Next
Merrimack will open its Hockey East schedule with a single game against the defending league champion Boston University Terriers next Saturday (Oct. 20) at 7 p.m.