BRYN ATHYN, Pa. – The Bryn Athyn College men's ice hockey team wraps up its season-long seven-game home stand with a weekend series against Aquinas College on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20 and 21 in Junge Pavilion.
Tickets for the game are $5.
LAST TIME OUT
Anthony Notorfrancesco and Nikita Smirnov scored first period goals in the Lions' 5-2 loss to SUNY Cortland on Jan. 14. McKenzie Chalmers stopped a career-high 45 shots for Bryn Athyn. The Lions (6-8-1) were outshot 50-17 and 0-for-4 on the man advantage.
Aquinas—an NAIA Division II school—fell to 13-8-1 after a 3-2 loss to Calvin College on Jan. 13. Max Berry and Sam Kaser scored the Saints' goals.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Bryn Athyn is 1-3-1 during its first five games of this home stand. Seven different Lions have contributed to the offense with a goal, led by Alex Doyle and Nikita Smirnov who each have two. The Lions' penalty kill has an 80.6 percent (6-of-31) success rate and the power play is scoring at a 12.5 percent (4-of-32) clip.
The Lions are currently 45th in NCAA Division III in scoring offense (2.87) and 57th in goals allowed (3.33). Bryn Athyn has the 19th best power play in Division III at 21.3 percent. In all six of the team's wins, the Lions have scored on the man advantage. The Lions—the fifth-most penalized team in Division III with 18.7 penalty minutes per game—have killed off 82.1 percent of their penalties, 44th in the NCAA.
Julion Lever, Alec Grollman, and Smirnov are tied for the team lead with 10 points. Lever leads the Lions with six goals. Smirnov has recorded a point in three straight games. Grollman ranks 35th in Division III for points by a freshman with .71.
Notorfrancesco has posted a point in back-to-back games.
McKenzie Chalmers is 6-7-1 with a .913 save percentage and a 3.17 goals average against. Chalmers—who has made at least 40 saves three times this year—is 54th in save percentage and 78th in goals against average.
SCOUTING AQUINAS
Aquinas has a balanced offensive attack with five players leading the team with six goals: Kyle Traux, Steven Gustafson, Trent Kulczyk, Steven Nisbet, and Austin Kuch. In addition to the six goals, Traux is fourth in the NAIA with 13 assists. Traux's 19 total points place him sixth in the NAIA.
The Saints are converting 18.2 percent of their power plays and killing off 83.3 percent of their penalties.
In goal, Aquinas has used the tandem of Nick Ottenbacher and Roman Malkov all season. Ottenbacher is 10-3-0 with a 1.75 goals against average and a .940 save percentage. Malkov has a 3-5-0 record, a 2.70 goals against average, and a .910 save percentage.
Aquinas is 6-5-0 away from home this season.