2023–24 Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey season

The 2023–24 Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey season is the 37th season of play for the program, the 25th at the Division I level, and the 21st in Atlantic Hockey. The Lakers represent Mercyhurst University and are coached by Rick Gotkin, in his 36th season.
==Season==
Mercyhurst began the season enough, sandwiching a pair of shootout victories between very narrow losses to two Big Ten teams. The Lakers then spent the remainder of the first half of their season playing around the .500 mark, seeing decent scoring totals buoyed by solid if unspectacular defensive play. The result was that the Lakers were sitting with a winning record in conference play and had an outside chance to earn a bye into the conference quarterfinals.
In the second half, Mercyhurst started with their best offensive performance to date, scoring 7 goals against Sacred Heart. Unfortunately, the offense dried up afterwards. Mercyhurst went over a month without a win, losing nine consecutive games. The streak sent the team plummeting to the bottom of the standings and also saw their defense surrender many glorious scoring opportunities. Mercyhurst managed to pull themselves out of the dive with a surprising win over ranked RIT but by then the damage had been done. The Lakers finished the year in 9th place and were forced to hit the road for their first round match.
The offense again went silent and Canisius scored the first four goals in the game. With nothing left to lose, Rick Gotkin pulled Owen Say for an extra attacked when the team got on a mid-third period power play and the extra attacker enabled the team to finally get on the scoreboard. Several minutes later, The Griffins were assessed a major penalty and gave Mercyhurst the opening the needed. The team was unable to capitalize during the first half of the power play but, after Canisius was given a slashing minor, Mercyhurst managed to add a second goal on the 6-on-3 man-advantage. Still needing two goals to tie, Say was again pulled when play resumed but, after about a minute, Canisius was able to cage an empty-net goal that sealed the game.
On November 11, Rick Gotkin became just the 16th coach in NCAA history to win 600 games. He was also the 7th coach to do so with one team.
Due to a snowstorm, the game against Niagara scheduled on January 13 was postponed to a later date.
==Departures==
Jon Bendorf 	Forward 		Graduation (retired)
Carson Brière 	Forward 		Dismissed from program (signed with HC 19 Humenné)
Eric Esposito 	Forward 		Graduation (signed with Orlando Solar Bears)
Gueorgui Feduolov 	Forward 		Graduation (signed with Norfolk Admirals)
Tyler Harmon 	Goaltender		Graduation (signed with Atlanta Gladiators)
Dalton Hunter 	Forward 		Graduation (signed with Fayetteville Marksmen)
Paul Maust 	Forward 		Graduate transfer to Robert Morris
Joey Maziarz 	Defenseman		Graduation (retired)
Brendon Michaelian	Defenseman		Graduation (retired)
Owen Norton 	Defenseman		Graduation (signed with Maine Mariners)
Rylee St. Onge 	Forward 		Graduate transfer to Robert Morris
Cade Townend 	Defenseman		Graduate transfer to Robert Morris
Carver Watson 	Defenseman		Graduation (retired)
==Recruiting==
Barrett Brooks 	Forward 		21	Stevens Point, WI; transfer from Western Michigan
Simon Bucheler 	Goaltender		21	Saint-Laurent, QC
Tyler DesRochers	Defenseman		20	Howell, NJ
Davis Fry 	Forward 		20	Regina, SK
Sean James 	Forward 		21	Almonte, ON
Will Margel 	Forward 		22	Potomac, MD; transfer from New Hampshire
Jackson McCarthy	Defenseman		21	West Seneca, NY
Connor Pelc 	Forward 		20	Buffalo, NY
Cameron Ricotta 	Forward 		21	Cheektowaga, NY
Trent Sambrook 	Defenseman		21	Winnipeg, MB
Boris Skalos 	Forward 		20	Clifton, NJ
Spencer Smith 	Forward 		21	St. Catharines, ON
Jaryd Sych 	Defenseman		20	Airdrie, AB
==Roster==
As of September 14, 2023.
==Standings==
==Schedule and results==
|-
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
|-
!colspan=12 style=";" | 
==Scoring statistics==
 	F 	35	7 	21 	28 	23
 	F 	35	15	12 	27 	10
 	RW	35	6 	17 	23 	8
 	F 	31	6 	13 	19 	10
 	D 	34	4 	14 	18 	35
 	LW	35	5 	13 	18 	14
 	F 	31	10	5 	15 	10
 	F 	30	6 	9 	15 	36
 	D 	31	10	4 	14 	32
 	D 	28	3 	10 	13 	14
 	F 	27	5 	7 	12 	8
 	C 	33	5 	6 	11 	37
 	F 	27	4 	6 	10 	23
 	F 	27	3 	7 	10 	4
 	F 	34	3 	5 	8 	0
 	F 	23	2 	6 	8 	16
 	D 	35	2 	6 	8 	33
 	F 	29	1 	4 	5 	14
 	F 	5 	1 	1 	2 	0
 	D 	21	0 	2 	2 	10
 	F 	8 	0 	1 	1 	0
 	D 	16	0 	1 	1 	4
 	D 	24	0 	1 	1 	6
 	D 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	31	0 	0 	0 	2
 	F 	8 	0 	0 	0 	8
 	G 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	F 	5 	0 	0 	0 	2
Total	 	 	98	171	269	359
==Goaltending statistics==
 	31	1697:52	8	17	4	91 	950 	0	.913	3.22
 	12	397:45 	1	5 	0	26 	237 	1	.901	3.92
Empty Net	- 	40:01 	-	- 	-	9 	- 	-	- 	-
Total 	35	2135:38	9	22	4	126	1187	1	.904	3.54
==Rankings==
Poll 	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week 	Week
Poll 	Pre 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7 	8 	9 	10 	11 	12 	13 	14 	15 	16 	17 	18 	19 	20 	21 	22 	23 	24 	25 	26 (Final)	
USCHO.com	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	– 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	– 	NR 	
USA Today	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	– 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.Note: USA Today did not release a poll in week 12.
==References==
Category:Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey seasons
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