THE WEEK AHEAD
All seven Atlantic Hockey America teams are in action this weekend, hoping to build upon a 4-0-0 non-conference start that is the best in league history.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Lindenwood at Merrimack
5 p.m. ET
Lawler Arena
North Andover, Mass.
Watch on ESPN+
• 2-0-0 Lions return to the road for a rematch of last season’s split in Maryland Heights, Mo.

#2/2 Ohio State at #4/6 Penn State
6 p.m. ET
Pegula Ice Arena
University Park, Pa.
Watch on B1G+
• Two 2026 Frozen Four teams convene at the site of that event for college hockey’s headline matchup this weekend

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Lindenwood at Merrimack
2 p.m. ET
Lawler Arena
North Andover, Mass.
Watch on ESPN+

#2/2 Ohio State at #4/6 Penn State
4 p.m. ET
Pegula Ice Arena
University Park, Pa.
Watch on B1G+

RIT at #12/12 Clarkson
6 p.m. ET
Cheel Arena
Potsdam, N.Y.
Watch on ESPN+
• AHA’s preseason #3 team faces in-state foe Clarkson for the first time since 2013

Delaware at Holy Cross
6 p.m. ET
Hart Center
Worcester, Mass.
Watch on ESPN+
• Delaware opens its second season with a series against one of the two teams it beat in 2025-26

Stonehill at Syracuse
6 p.m. ET
Tennity Ice Pavilion
Syracuse, N.Y.
Watch on FloHockey
• The Brian Idalski era officially drops the puck after an exhibition win against Queen’s last weekend

#15/14 Mercyhurst at #9/9 Minnesota Duluth
7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
AMSOIL Arena
Duluth, Minn.
Watch on B1G+
• UMD won both meetings in Erie last season, 4-3 in OT and 5-3, between these two traditional women's hockey powers 

Post at Robert Morris
7 p.m. ET
Clearview Arena
Moon Township, Pa.
Watch on FloHockey
• Post faces another AHA foe after suffering two shutout losses to Lindenwood last weekend

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

Delaware at Holy Cross
2 p.m. ET
Hart Center
Worcester, Mass.
Watch on ESPN+

Post at Robert Morris
3 p.m. ET
Clearview Arena
Moon Township, Pa.
Watch on FloHockey

RIT at #12/12 Clarkson
3 p.m. ET
Cheel Arena
Potsdam, N.Y.
Watch on ESPN+

Stonehill at Syracuse
3 p.m. ET
Tennity Ice Pavilion
Syracuse, N.Y.
Watch on FloHockey

#15/14 Mercyhurst at #9/9 Minnesota Duluth
4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT
AMSOIL Arena
Duluth, Minn.
Watch on B1G+

TEAM NOTES

DELAWARE
• Season two of Blue Hen hockey starts this weekend with a series at Holy Cross, which Delaware beat for its first victory in program history on Oct. 5, 2025.
• Sophomore goaltender Charlotte Payne (Oakville, Ont.) stopped 49 of 50 shots in that win against Holy Cross last year.
• Six freshmen and two transfers join a returning group for Delaware that includes a 14-member sophomore class.

LINDENWOOD
• Ten Lions scored goals and 16 had at least a point in the two-game sweep of Post. Goaltenders Madison Bowtell (Lake Country, B.C.) and Ebba Ridderstolpe (Botkyrka, Sweden) each had a shutout.
• Saturday’s win featured three goals in a 57-second span of the second period, from Raquel McCormack (West Bend, Wis.), Tatem Starlight-Yellowfly (Tsuu T’ina, Alta.) and Paige Cline (Chesterfield, Mich.). It was Cline’s second of the day and third goal of the weekend.
• Freshman Krisztina Weiler (Budapest, Hungary) had four assists Saturday to tie a school record and gave her five through two games.

MERCYHURST
• The Lakers are 2-0-0 for the first time in three years after outscoring RPI 6-1 and outshooting the Engineers 87-30.
• Sophomore Julia Perjus (Stockholm, Sweden) scored both game-winning goals in the opening weekend, the fifth and sixth GWGs of her young career. Only two active AHA players – Penn State’s Grace Outwater (Picton, Ont., 11) and Perjus’s teammate Sofia Nuutinen (Vantaa, Finland, 7) – have more.
• Junior goaltender Magdalena Luggin (Vienna, Austria) recorded her sixth career shutout on Saturday and boasts a .967 save percentage through two games.

PENN STATE
• Preseason Player of the Year Grace Outwater (Picton, Ont.) scored 19 goals in conference games last season, the fourth-most in conference history and the most by a player in her first two seasons in the league
• Sophomore defenseman Danica Maynard (Lake Country, B.C.), the Nicole Hensley Rookie of the Year in the league last season, joined Outwater as a unanimous selection to the preseason all-conference team.
• Penn State’s seven selections in the 2026 PWHL Draft were the most of any school.

RIT
• Five Tigers rank among the top 15 active career scorers in AHA conference play; no other school has more than three.
• Senior defenseman Emma Pickering (Fishers, Ind.) is the first Tiger to earn first-team all-conference honors twice in her career, and she was a unanimous selection to the preseason all-conference team as well.
• RIT’s 31.9% power play last season marked the only time in conference history a team has converted on more than 30% of its power plays in all games.

ROBERT MORRIS
• The Colonials boast the conference’s most experienced goaltender in senior Maggie Hatch (Cleveland Heights, Ohio), who has played at least 24 games in each of her first three seasons.
• Senior Thalia D’Elia (West Chester, Pa.) is tied for second among active AHA defensemen in career assists (31) and tied for third in career points (39).

SYRACUSE
• The Orange return each of the top six scorers from last year’s team. Senior Nea Tervonen (Tampere, Finland) ranks sixth among active players with 31 career conference points.
• Sophomore goaltender Ava Drabyk (Saskatoon, Sask.) set a conference record with a shutout streak of 253:24, a span that included three of her five shutouts on the season.

STAT OF THE WEEK
Atlantic Hockey America players represent 15 countries, led by Canada (74) and the U.S. (68). Twenty-five U.S. states and 10 Canadian provinces have players in the league.
Most AHA Players, by Country
74 Canada
68 United States
6 Sweden
5 Finland, Norway

Most AHA Players, by State or Province
40 Ontario
10 Pennstlvania
9 Saskatchewan
8 Alberta
7 Illinois