They say to always ride a hot goaltender -- they being pretty much every hockey writer, commentator and fan -- and the Mercyhurst College hockey team has been listening.
Since taking over for Matt Lundin Nov. 14 in a loss to Bentley, Erie's Ryan Zapolski and the Lakers alike are 4-0-1 including an upset of No. 7 Princeton in the RPI tournament championship game Saturday.
Whether he reclaims the starting job will be up to him, Zapolski and coach Rick Gotkin. The same they also say you need two good goalies to get through a season, and Lundin's been a good one for the Lakers. But for the moment Zapolski joins a string of Mercyhurst goalies who have seized the spotlight when it swung their way.
1. Lundin. He returned from injury to spark the Lakers on a postseason run in 2007-08. On the heels of Mercyhurst's 0-3-2 stretch to end the regular season, Lundin went 4-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Association playoffs, never giving up more than two goals, to push the Lakers into the championship game where they lost 5-4 in double overtime. Lundin stopped 185 of 195 shots on goal in the five conference playoff games.
2. Peter Aubry. The two-time goalie of the year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference was 15-0-2 at one point in the 2001-02 season. A year earlier, as a junior, he made 47 saves as the Lakers did everything but beat No. 5 Michigan in a 4-3 loss in the Lakers' first NCAA Divison I tournament appearance.
3. Andy Franck. As a freshman in 2002-03, he went 7-0-0 in the month of January and helped the Lakers reach their second NCAA regional, a 9-2 loss to Minnesota and Thomas Vanek.
4. Mike Ella. Two years later, Ella displaced Franck as the starter. At season's end he was the goalie of record in eight straight wins, then made a then-school-record 52 saves in a 5-4 loss to Boston College in the NCAA regional.
5. Scott Barber. In 1994-95, when the Lakers still were in Division II, Barber went on a 12-game winning streak that remains the team record. Mercyhurst reached the national championship series, losing the first two games of the best-of-three series to Bemidji State.
6. Gary Bowles. Bowles started the first four years of the program's history, winning a record 56 games (and losing a record 38 games) and setting marks that still stand for minutes and games played in a career and season. He pushed them to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals in 1990-91.