CANTON, N.Y. – Junior Jesse Scanzano scored three goals in the third period to break open a 2-2 game and lead the top-ranked Mercyhurst College women's hockey team over No. 10 St. Lawrence, 6-2, on Saturday afternoon at Appleton Arena. The Lakers close out the first half of the season with a 15-1-1 record, marking their second-best record at the break since a 16-1-1 finish to close out 2006.
With the game tied at 2-2 and less than 15 minutes remaining, Scanzano gave the Lakers a 3-2 lead with her 50th career goal, a shot that bounced off the glove hand of goaltender Brittony Chartier and fell into the net. Freshman Lauren Jones then followed with her fifth of the season just over a minute later at 6:57 before Scanzano completed her fourth-career hat trick with back-to-back scores at 13:42 and 16:15.
The six goals marked a program-high against St. Lawrence, surpassing the team's five-goal outburst in a 5-2 victory last season. It also helped them defeat the Saints for a fifth-straight time dating back to last season and move to 6-12-2 in the all-time series.
Both teams played a tight game through the first 45 minutes. St. Lawrence accounted for the only goal of the first period when Britni Smith sent a centering pass over the head of sophomore Hillary Pattenden on the power play at 8:56.
Mercyhurst answered back as junior Ashley Cockell countered the goal with two of her own, scoring at 10:06 and 14:38 of the second period to give the Lakers a 2-1 advantage. She also added two assists to finish with a game-high four points.
Smith cleared the slate with her second of the game just 4:06 into the third period.
Mercyhurst outshot St. Lawrence 33-29 and converted 2-for-3 on the power play. Pattenden turned aside 27 shots to move to 15-1-1 on the season. She allowed one power-play goal as the Saints went 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.
The Lakers will have the next three weeks off before returning to the ice on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, against Minnesota State in the first game of the Easton Holiday Hockey Tournament in St. Cloud, Minn.
