DETROIT, Mich. – The fourth-ranked Mercyhurst College women's hockey team defeated College Hockey America foe Wayne State, 7-1, on Friday evening in the Warriors' Skate for the Cure contest at City Sports Arena. The Lakers, who improve 8-2-0 on the season and 2-0-0 in league play, scored seven goals over the final two periods after skating to a 0-0 tie in the first.
Junior Jess Jones led the offense with two goals and three assists for five points, while senior captain Meghan Agosta netted her 12th career hat trick and added an assist. Junior Kelley Steadman recorded a goal and an assist, and senior assistant captain Vicki Bendus lit the lamp once.
After a scoreless first period, Mercyhurst broke the game open with three straight goals to start the second. Tallies by Jones, Agosta and Steadman within a span of four minutes and 44 seconds midway through the period gave the Lakers a 3-0 lead before Wayne State could answer back, scoring with less than three minutes to play at 17:54.
The Lakers added to their lead with four more in the third. Agosta made it a 4-1 lead at the 4:21 mark, while Jones stretched it to 5-1 less than three minutes later at 6:41. After a short break, Agosta completed her hat trick on the penalty kill, beating Delayne Brian with 9:01 showing on the clock. Bendus then capped the scoring with the team's second power play goal of the evening at 14:06.
Mercyhurst outshot Wayne State 34-21 and got 20 saves from junior Hillary Pattenden. Brian, meanwhile, finished with 27 saves. Both teams combined for 11 power plays in the game, with Mercyhurst converting 2-for-4 with the man-advantage. Wayne State finished 0-for-7.
Both teams close out the two-game series on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m.
