ERIE, Pa. – The top-ranked Mercyhurst College women's hockey team broke the NCAA record for short-handed goal in a season as the Lakers topped Wayne State, 4-1, in a College Hockey America contest on Saturday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers, winner of five-straight, improve to 25-2-3 on the season and 12-1-1 in CHA play. 

Junior Jesse Scanzano put the Lakers in the NCAA record books when she took a pass from classmate Ashley Cockell and streaked down ice for a one-on-one breakaway, giving the Lakers their 20th short-handed score of the season with 8:34 remaining in the second period. 

Scanzano's score, which also marked her 18th of the season, pushed the Lakers past the 2004-05 Minnesota squad that scored 19 man-down scores in a season en route to its second-straight national championship. 

Mercyhurst captured its record-setting win after rallying back from a 1-0 deficit with four special-teams scores and solid penalty killing. The Lakers scored three times on the power play to finish the game with a 3-for-8 mark, while the man-down unit added to the offense and squashed all seven WSU extra-man opportunities. 

Following Scanzano's short-handed marker that tied the game at 12:16, the Lakers took the lead on consecutive goals by junior Vicki Bendus and sophomore Kelley Steadman just four minutes and 35 seconds apart. Bendus made it a 2-1 game, scoring off a pair of assists from Scanzano and sophomore Bailey Bram at the 14:00 mark. Steadman then made it a 3-1 advantage when she floated the puck past Wayne State netminder Lindsey Park with 1:25 remaining in the frame. 

Junior Cassea Schols closed out the game when her shot from the point deflected off of Park and into the net at the 17:04 of the third period. 

Mercyhurst controlled the pace of the game with a 44-13 advantage in shots and several key saves from freshman Stephanie Ciampa, who made 12 stops in her first collegiate start. Park, meanwhile, recorded 40 stops in a losing effort. 

Katrina Protopappas led the Warriors with their lone goal, scoring on the team's first shot just 32 seconds into the second period. 

Along with their goals, Bendus and Scanzano tallied two assists each to finish the game with three points. Schols also added an assist give the Lakers three multi-point scorers. 

Mercyhurst closes out the regular season next weekend when the Lakers host CHA foe Syracuse on Friday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.