CANTON, N.Y. – The top-ranked Mercyhurst College women's hockey team extended its winning streak over St. Lawrence to four games Friday evening, defeating the 10th-ranked Saints 4-2 at Appleton Arena. The Lakers, winners of five in a row, improve to 14-1-1 on the season and remain unbeaten on the road at 8-0-1. The Saints, meanwhile, fall to 7-6-5 overall.
In a rematch of last year's NCAA Quarterfinal contest, the Lakers dominated play in the first period, trapping the Saints in their own zone for most of the frame while taking a 1-0 advantage on the first of two goals by freshman Lauren Jones.
Jones cracked the ice when she intercepted a loose puck behind the net and snuck it through traffic at the 12:47 mark. It was her third goal of the season and marked the 12th time this year that the Lakers scored first.
After the intermission, the Lakers quickly increased their lead to 3-0 on a pair of goals just two minutes and 33 seconds apart. Sophomore Meghan Corbett stretched the lead to two, scoring her first of the season off a pass from junior Cassea Schols with just 2:09 elapsed. Sophomore Bailey Bram then made it 3-0 with a backhand shot from the bottom of the right circle on the power play at 15:18. Schols picked up her second assist of the night and 12th of the season with the primary helper on the goal.
St. Lawrence cut into the deficit after a couple of Laker penalties later in the period. Set up on a 5-on-4 power play, St. Lawrence's Alley Bero made it a 3-1 game when she rifled a shot past sophomore Hillary Pattenden for her fourth goal of the season with 6:32 remaining.
Mercyhurst would brush off the score and restore its three-goal lead in the third as Jones found the back of the net again, this time scoring on a sneaky shot that slipped between the goaltender's skate and the left post at 17:59.
Jones' two-goal performance marked the first time this season that a Mercyhurst freshman scored more than once in a game.
St. Lawrence closed out the game with a 6-on-4 power-play goal with 10 seconds showing on the clock.
Mercyhurst outshot St. Lawrence 44-25 and converted 1-for-3 on the power play. The Saints, on the other hand, were 2-for-5 with the extra skater. Pattenden improved to 14-1-1 with 23 saves while Chartier fell to 7-6-5 with 40 stops.
Both teams close out the two-game series on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 3 p.m. at the Appleton Arena.
