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SETTING THE SCENE: This Thanksgiving weekend match-up is between two Atlantic Hockey foes, the Mercyhurst College Lakers and your American International College Yellow Jackets.

ABOUT AIC: The Yellow Jackets enter this weekend with an overall record of 2-8-1 and are 2-6-1 in the conference after losing two games to Cansisius at home last weekend. The Golden Griffins walked away with a 7-0 victory in the series opener and a 4-0 in the Saturday matinee. In Friday nights 7-0, junior forward Corey Conacher led the way for Canisius with four points on the evening, scoring twice and assisting on two others. Senior forward Jason Weeks and freshman forward Preston Shupe each tallied a goal and an assist in the win for the Golden Griffins. Canisius tallied two goals in the first period, one in the second, and four in the third to claim the victory. Freshman netminder #Ben Meisner# made a strong effort between the pipes for AIC, stopping 42 of 49 shots on goal. His counterpart, sophomore Dan Morrison made 36 saves for the shutout and victory. The Yellow Jackets were out shot 49-36 on the night, but held a 15-12 advantage in the third period. Saturday's 4-0 loss was much of the same story, as Sophomore forward Scott Moser got the scoring started for Canisius when he buried a penalty shot 15-minutes into the first period. AIC held a 14-10 shot advantage in the period. In the second period the Golden Griffins tallied three goals power-play goals to extend their lead to 4-0 heading into the game's final period. Junior forward Corey Conacher netted two of those power-play goals, while senior forward Jason Weeks scored the other. Junior Vincent Scarsella dished out an assist on each of Conacher's goals. Junior goaltender #Dan Ramirez# stopped 29 shots in the loss for AIC, while senior Andrew Loewen made 32 saves to claim the shutout for Canisius. Freshman forward Adam Pleskach leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring with seven goals and three assists for 10 points thus far this season, while senior Josh Froese and freshman Richard Leitner are tied for second with five points each, including two goals and three assists, and one goal and four assists, respectively.

MONTHLY HONORS: Freshman #Adam Pleskach# was named the AHA Rookie of the Month for October. He scored a least one goal in three of his first four starts, with a career-high two goals in a 3-2 loss to Rensselaer. In a weekend series against Union and Rensselaer, Pleskach had a hand in all four goals the Yellow Jackets score as he notched three goals and an assist. Overall he has five goals and two assists for seven points.

ABOUT MERCYHURST: The Lakers come into this weekends double-header with a record of 4-9-1 so far this season and are 4-5-1 in the AHA after sweeping Holy Cross last weekend. Mercyhurst claimed a 5-1 victory in the first game and then a 4-1 win in the second. In Friday's 5-1 win, junior forward Mike Gurtler became the seventh player in NCAA Division I history to score three short-handed goals in a single game. Gurtler's short-handed hat trick was the first by a Division I player since Zach Harrison of North Dakota accomplished the feat against Minnesota State on Oct. 17, 2008, and the first by a Mercyhurst player in the Division I-era. Scott Burfoot scored three man-down goals in a game against Scranton on Jan. 24, 1992 when Mercyhurst was competing at the Division III level. The only other Division I players to score three times on the penalty kill in a single game were George Awada of St. Cloud State, Jayson Greyerbiehl of Colgate, C.J. Young of Harvard, Greg Dreschel of Colgate and Norm Cherrey of Wisconsin. Entering the game with one goal to his season-resume and no career hat tricks, Gurtler kicked off the start of a three-goal run in the first period, scoring on a breakaway. Junior defenseman Jeff Terminesi and senior defenseman Matt Fennell split-up Gurtler's goals, scoring goal's of there own to help propel the Lakers to victory. Junior goalie Ryan Zapolski made 24 stops in the win. In the weekend finale, junior forward Scott Pitt put Mercyhurst out to an early 1-0 lead finding the net just 1:13 into the game. Terminesi gave the Lakers a 2-0 advantage scoring just 16-minutes later. Junior forward Branndon Coccimiglio then netted a goal in the second period and another in the third period as Mercyhurst skated to an easy 4-1 win. Zapolski stopped 32 shots for his second victory on the weekend. Coccimiglio leads the team in scoring with six goal and seven assists for 13 points this season, while Pitt is second with 12 points, including three goals and nine assists. Junior forward Steve Cameron rounds out the top group with 11 points thus far, with a team-leading seven goals and four assists.

LAST TIME THEY MET: The Lakers swept the Yellow Jackets on the weekend of February 6-7, 2009. Mercyhurst claimed wins of 2-0 in the series opener and 6-2 in the finale. Matt Pierce score four goals in the series, while senior Neil Graham scored twice. Coccimigilio and classmate Ryan Raven each found the back of the net once. Senior #Chris Campanale# and junior #Greg Vatrano# each tallied a goal for AIC. Tom Fenton combined to make 48 saves for the Yellow Jackets over the weekend.

NEXT UP: AIC heads out to Colorado for two games with Air Force beginning on Friday at 7:05 p.m.