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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Returning to the Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center ice for the first time since the beginning of November, the UAH hockey team is prepared to host Mercyhurst this weekend. The puck will drop on Friday at 7 p.m. before the teams turn around to square off for a New Year's Eve matinee at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The Chargers (1-19-1) ended their long road trip with a pair of losses at Bemidji State, but the Blue and White put forth one of the best defensive efforts of the season in the two games. UAH limited the Beavers to just 24 shots in the first game of the series before surrendering only 28 in the second. The 52 shots allowed is the lowest total for a series this season.
UAH also hung closer than it had all season on the shot counter that weekend as the team was outshot 24-20 and 28-27 in the two games respectively.
Unfortunately, the fact that the Chargers were able to put shots on target did not result in goals for the squad and thus a nice offensive stretch ended.
In the four games prior to the Bemidji series,
Kyle Lysaght had notched five points on three goals and two assists, while defenseman Lasse Uusivirta registered four points with a goal and three assists during the period.
With the hot spurt, Lysaght sits on top of the squad with nine points, and he also leads the team with five goals on the season.
The all-time series between the Chargers and Mercyhurst has been an even one as UAH has gone 4-4-3 against the Lakers. The teams last met a season ago when the Chargers fell 8-3 and 4-3, and the Chargers last win in the series came with a 4-1 decision on Jan. 3, 2010.
Mercyhurst comes to town with an 8-8-2 mark, including a 3-4-1 record away from Erie, Pa. The Lakers dropped a 4-3 decision to Niagara on Dec. 10 in their last game before breaking for the holidays. Mercyhurst owned a 2-1 advantage before giving up the game's next three goals to suffer the setback.
A group of five Lakers are bunched at the top of the Mercyhurst offensive ledger as Nardo Nagtzaam leads the way with 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists). The team's leading goal scorer Derek Elliot (7 goals, 5 assists) joins Chris Bodo and Daniel Bahntge with 12 points, and Tyler Shiplo has notched 11 points on the season.
With a .917 save percentage and a 3.03 goals against average, Max Strang has seen almost every minute in goal for this weekend's visitors.
Live stats and a video webcast for the contests will be available at uahchargers.com.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Chargers on Facebook (facebook.com/uahchargers) and on Twitter (@uahchargers), and supporters of the Blue and White may sign up for text and e-mail updates at uahchargers.com.
