Erie, Pa. – The No. 5 / 6 Mercyhurst College women's hockey team kept its perfect conference record intact as the Lakers defeated No. 10 Wayne State, 4-2, in a College Hockey America contest Friday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. With the win, the Lakers extend their winning streak to four games and improve to 18-5-0 on the season and 7-0-0 in CHA action. Wayne State, on the other hand, suffers its first loss in 10 games while falling to 17-4-2 overall and 8-1-0 in conference play.

Mercyhurst set the tone in the first period, outshooting the Warriors, 17-3, while building a 3-1 advantage. Sophomore Geena Prough gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead when she took an up-ice pass from freshman Meghan Corbett and sent it sailing past the glove hand of Lindsey Park just 48 seconds into the game. Senior Hayley McMeekin earned the secondary assist on the play. Junior captain Meghan Agosta followed the score with one of her own less than three minutes later. After a turnover at center ice, Agosta took the puck and split two Warrior defensemen for a one-on-one marker at 2:52.

Wayne State broke up the attack midway through the period when Lindsay DiPietro took a cross-crease pass from Chelsea Burnett and knocked it home for a 5-on-3 power-play strike at 8:36. However, the Lakers would get back on track nearing the end of the frame thanks to an extra-man score from freshman Jess Jones to take a 3-1 lead into the second.

The Lakers continued to pressure the Warriors in the second, unleashing another 17 shots while exchanging goals.  WSU pulled within one again when Natalie Payne put the puck far post at 10:00, but an extra-man strike from sophomore assistant captain Vicki Bendus pushed the lead back to two at 14:30. Agosta and sophomore Melissa Lacroix were credited with assists on the goal.

Mercyhurst finished the Warriors off in the third with a 9-6 edge in shots and two successful penalty kills, including one with less than three minutes to play.

Freshman Hillary Pattenden netted her 14th win of the season with 12 saves while counterpart Park suffered the loss with 39. Mercyhurst held a 43-14 advantage in shots for the game and was 2-for-7 with the extra-man. Wayne State was 1-for-7 on special teams.

Mercyhurst and Wayne State return to action on Saturday, Jan. 31 for game two of the series at 2:00 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.