Mercyhurst vs. St. Cloud State Box Score

ST. CLOUD, Minn. -  The Mercyhurst College women's hockey team kept its unbeaten streak alive Sunday afternoon as the top-ranked Lakers battled St. Cloud State to a 4-4 tie in the final game of the 2010 Easton Hockey Showcase in St. Cloud, Minn. The Lakers, unbeaten in their last 11 games, move to 16-1-2 on the season and finish the showcase with a 1-0-1 record.

Juniors Jesse Scanzano, Vicki Bendus and Ashley Cockell supplied the Lakers with six points. Scanzano netted two goals and an assist while Bendus added a goal and a helper. Cockell netted her fourth goal in the past three games and extended her point-streak to seven games.

Coming off an eight-goal, 21-point performance on Saturday, Mercyhurst picked up right where it left off by building a 3-1 advantage in the first period. Scanzano and Cockell put the Lakers out in front, 2-0, with back-to-back goals just a minute and 59 seconds apart at 5:13 and 7:12.

Following a strike from St. Cloud's Holly Roberts that cut the lead in half at 7:43, Scanzano made it a two-goal advantage again, taking a long pass from Bendus and beating Ashley Nixon one-on-one with a short-handed strike at 19:54.

Despite the lead and a 17-8 first period advantage in shots, St. Cloud stormed back in the second. The Huskies closed the gap in shots at 9-8 and outscored the Lakers 2-1 on goals by Caitlin Hogan (3:34) and Felicia Nelson (6:35) to take a 4-3 deficit into the third. Bendus added her 14th goal of the season and nation-leading fifth short-handed strike in between the two St. Cloud goals at 5:05.

Mercyhurst regained its momentum in the third as the Lakers outshot SCSU, 20-8, but a late gamble by SCSU would even the playing field. With two Lakers in the penalty box, St. Cloud pulled its goaltender for a 6-on-3 power play and a shot at tying the game. As the first penalty was about to expire, Nelson cleared the slate with her second of the game and 18th of the season at the 8:53 mark.

From that point, both teams played end-to-end hockey with both goaltenders keeping their teams in the game. Sophomore Hillary Pattenden stopped 19 shots while Nixon recorded her second 50-plus save game of the season with 50 saves. Mercyhurst finished the game with a 54-23 advantage in shots, including an 8-1 edge overtime, and went 0-for-5 on the power play. St. Cloud finished 1-for-6.

The Lakers will have next weekend off before returning to ice against third-ranked Clarkson on Friday, Jan. 15 and Saturday, Jan. 16 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Notes: Mercyhurst unofficially won the game, 5-4, in a three-round shootout on goals by Cockell and junior Cassea Schols (shootout wins only apply to Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) contests)...The Lakers were without the services of Scanzano, Bendus and sophomore Bailey Bram with nine minutes remaining in the second period due to their commitment to the Canadian Under-22 Team playing in Germany this week.