Men’s College Hockey
MAINE vs. MERCYHURST
Time, site: 7 p.m. Friday, Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland; 7 p.m. Saturday, Alfond Arena, Orono
Records: Maine 4-11-2, Mercyhurst 8-6-1
Series, last meeting: Maine leads 4-0-1, Maine 4-1 on Oct. 20, 2007
Key players: Maine — RW Connor Leen (4 goals, 4 assists), LW Devin Shore (2 & 6), D Ben Hutton (2 & 5), RW Joey Diamond (3 & 3), D Mike Cornell (2 & 3), G Martin Ouellette (2-5-2, 2.27 goals-against average, .915 save percentage), G Matt Morris (2-0-0, 2.60, .885); Mercyhurst— LW Ryan Misiak (4 & 10), RW Daniel Bahntge (8 & 4), C Matthew Zay (4 & 8), RW Chris Bodo (8 & 3), D Nick Jones (3 & 4), G Mat Strang (5-3-0, 3.32, .903), G Jordan Tibbett (3-3-0, 2.61, .930)
Coach Tim Whitehead’s keys to the game: “We want to get off to a good start. We want to get contributions from everybody and we want to make sure we play a high-tempo, fast-paced game.”
Game notes: Mercyhurst has won three straight but hasn’t played since beating Canisius 3-2 in overtime on Dec. 18. Atlantic Hockey member Mercyhurst returned 11 of its top 13 scorers off last year’s 20-16-4 team and all three goalies. Maine coach Tim Whitehead is leaning toward putting seniors Adam Shemansky (mononucleosis), Nick Pryor (flu) and Joey Diamond (back) together on a line after all three missed the Florida College Classic Tournament. Pryor is a defenseman who has played forward before.