Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – Senior Kaleigh Chippy of the eighth-ranked Mercyhurst University women's hockey team scored two goals to propel the Lakers 2-1 past Syracuse in the College Hockey America semifinals Friday afternoon.

The Lakers advance to the CHA Championship game for the 13^th consecutive season on Saturday, March 8 at 3:00 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist and Mercyhurst Alum Meghan Agosta-Marciano was on hand at the Mercyhurst Ice Center to drop the ceremonial puck drop at the first game of the tournament.  Earlier in the day, Agosta-Marciano met with fans and signed autographs for the Mercyhurst and Erie community.  She then kicked off the tournament by dropping the ceremonial puck drop.

In playoff fashion, the Lakers skated to a scoreless first period over Syracuse after collecting just six shots on net. Mercyhurst goaltender stopped just three shots on net in the opening period.

One minute into the second period, the Lakers were awarded a power-play opportunity. Junior Shelby Bram took the faceoff to begin two minutes with the Lakers one man advantage. Off the faceoff, senior Kaleigh Chippy skated through traffic in the faceoff circle and took a wrist shot at the hash marks. She beat Orange goaltender Jenesica Drinkwater to the near side corner of the net.

At the 16:16 mark of the middle period, the Orange took advantage of a power-play their own and tied the game at one. Syracuse's Allie LaCombe scored the tying goal after shooting an odd angled shot from the right side of Makela. Melissa Piacentini and Brittney Krebs both were awarded the assists.

Chippy gave Mercyhurst the lead on another power-play goal at the 9:43 mark of the final period. Bram rotated the puck to the point where sophomore J'nai Mahadeo was waiting at the point. Mahadeo then cycled the puck to Chippy at the left side of Drinkwater. Chippy used the screen of an Orange defenseman and lifted the puck just under the shoulder of the goaltender.

All told, Mercyhurst outshot Syracuse 28 to 17 throughout the thirty minutes of play. The Lakers went 2-for-4 on the power-play with the help of Chippy. Mercyhurst allowed just one Orange power-play out of their four chances. Senior Christie Cicero led the team with six shots on net, while Chippy contributed five.


Chippy's game-winner marked her team-leading six game-winning goals this season and tied sophomore Jenna Dingeldein with seven power-play goals on the season. Bram reached a milestone this season, by collecting her 25^th assist of the season on Chippy's first goal of the contest.

Goaltender Amanda Makela allowed one goal of 17 shots faced to improve to 21-6-4 on the season. Drinkwater suffered the loss after allowing two goals on 28 shots on net.

The Lakers will face Rochester Institute of Technology for the College Hockey America Championship on Saturday, March 8 at 3:00 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Earlier in the season, went 3-1-0 in the four game regular season series but is 2-0-0 at the MIC.