SETTING THE SCENE: The weekend's conference match-up is between the hosting Golden Griffin's of Canisius College and the visiting Yellow Jackets of American International College.

ABOUT AIC: The Yellow Jackets enter this weekend's series with a record of 4-22-1 this season and are 4-17-0 in Atlantic Hockey play after being swept this past weekend at Mercyhurst. In the series opener AIC lost 2-0, as the Lakers took a 1-0 when junior Neil Graham tallied a shorthanded goal with six-minutes remaining in the first period. Mercyhurst then added to their lead in the second period when sophomore Ryan Raven found the back of the net capping off the victory. Senior Tom Fenton made 22 saves on the night for the Yellow Jackets, while sophomore Ryan Zapolski stopped 26 shots for the Lakers. AIC outshot Mercyhurst 26-24 and 10-9 in the second period of the game. In the back end of the series Mercyhurst walked away with a 6-2 victory. The Lakers jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Graham and senior Matt Pierce each tallied a goal. Pierce's goal was one of four he scored on the power play on the night. Sophomore Greg Vatrano cut the Mercyhurst lead in half when he tallied a goal late in the opening period with assists from junior Chris Campanale and freshman Luciano Primiani. In the second period the Lakers added two more goals to make the score 4-1 as Pierce, again, scored on the power play, while sophomore Brandon Coccimiglio netted his sixth goal of the season. Campanale tallied a goal early in the third period cutting the lead to two goals. Freshman Michael Penny dished out the assist on the goal. Pierce then added two more power play goals late in the final period extending the Mercyhurst lead to 6-2. Fenton made 26 stops for AIC, while his counterpart, senior Matt Lundin made 25 saves in the victory. The Yellow Jackets were outshot 32-27 in the game.

AIC LEADERS: Campanale leads the Yellow Jackets offence with 14 points on the year including 5 goals and nine assists, while sophomore Steve McLeod and freshman Nielsson Arcibal are tied for second with 12 points each including four goals and eight assists, and three goals and nine assists respectively. Penny and senior Chad Richardson are next in points tied at 11 with six goals and five assists each.

ABOUT canisius: The Golden Griffin's come into this weekend's series with a record of 11-11-6 this season and are 9-9-4 in the conference after going 0-1-1 in this past weekend series at Army. In the first game Canisius lost 4-1. The Black Knights got out to an early 1-0 lead as freshman Mike Hull found the back of the net for the only goal in the first period. Army stretched there lead to 2-0 when Joey Ammon tallied a shorthanded goal at the 5:08 mark of the second period. The Golden Griffin's only goal of the game came from freshman Dave Kostuch just 1:22 later. The Black Knights added a goal late in the second and one more in the third from senior Mark Tilch and junior Eric Sefchik for the 4-1 victory. Freshman Dan Morrison stopped 33 shots, including 13 in the third period for Canisius, while sophomore Jay Clark made 34 saves for Army in the win. In the series finale the Golden Griffin's pulled out a 2-2 tie. Canisius took an early lead when sophomore Cory Conarcher lit the lamp at 5:04 of the first period. The lead did not last long as the Black Knights tied the game just 32-seconds later when sophomore Cody Omilusik found the back of the net. Army had the momentum going in their favor as they took the lead in the first when Zach McKelvie netted the puck just five minutes after Omilusik. The Golden Griffin's did not go down without a fight as they came out in the second period and tied the game when junior Josh Heidinger tallied his sixth goal of the season. Neither team scored in the third period or in overtime as the game ended in a 2-2 tie. Junior Andrew Loewen made 33 stops including 16 in the second period for Canisus, as Clark stopped 42 shots including 16 in the first and 13 in the third period.

canisius LEADERS: Junior Jason Weeks lead the Golden Griffin's in scoring with eight goals and a team leading 20 assists for 28 points on the year, Kostuch and Heidinger are tied for second with 25 points this season. Kostuch has tallied a team leading 17 goals to go with his eight assists, while Heidinger has netted six goals and dished out 19 assists. Conacher is third on the team with 23 points this season including nine goals and 14 assists, while classmate Vincent Scarsella is next with six goals and 13 assists fir 19 points.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: Canisius walked out of the Olympia Ice Center with a sweep they took both games from the Yellow Jackets winning the first game 3-2 and the back end 4-1. Penny scored all three of the AIC's goals in the series.

All-time SERIES WITH Canisius: The Yellow Jackets are 13-19-2 against the Golden Griffin's all time, but over the last five seasons AIC has posted a 7-6-1 record against them. During this five year span Canisius has outscored the Yellow Jacket 36-34.

NEXT UP: The Yellow Jackets take on the Connecticut Huskies on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. at the Olympia Ice Center.