ERIE, Pa. – The No. 1 Mercyhurst College women's hockey team used a three-goal rally to defeat Syracuse 3-1 on senior day Saturday, Feb. 27 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers outshot the Orange by a 4-to-1 margin on the afternoon.

The Lakers put the finishing touches on their CHA regular season championship, advancing to 27-2-3, 14-1-1 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Orange fell to 17-16-1, 8-8-0 in CHA action. Syracuse finished in third place in conference standing, one point behind Niagara.

Syracuse struck first, as Stefanie Marty notched a 5-on-3 goal at 12:06 of the first period, marking the second night in a row in which the Orange tallied with a two-skater advantage. Mercyhurst doubled SU's shots in the first, 14-7, but Syracuse led on 1-0 on the scoreboard after 20 minutes.

The Orange held off a Mercyhurst barrage during the second period, and nearly escaped unscathed until sophomore Pamela Zgoda tied the score at 1-1 with a goal at 19:03. Junior Vicki Bendus assisted on Zgoda's second goal of the season, which came while the teams skated 4-on-4. Mercyhurst attempted 18 shots on goal to Syracuse's two during the second period.

Sophomore Jess Jones scored for the second game in a row, notching her 19th goal on the season at 11:13 of the third period to break the 1-1 deadlock. Sophomore Bailey Bram drew the assist on Jones' tally.

The Lakers iced the victory away with an empty-net goal, scored by junior Melissa Lacroix at 19:44.

For the game, Mercyhurst outshot Syracuse, 48-12, including 10-2 in power play shots on goal. SU went 1-for-5 on power play, while the Lakers came up empty on four attempts with the extra skater.

Sophomore Hillary Pattenden made 11 saves for her 26th win of the season. The sophomore goaltender has now posted 50 wins, a feat only Desi Clark and Laura Hosier have completed. Lucy Schoedel kept her team in the game with 45 saves, including 10 while Mercyhurst was on the power play.

Bendus' assist gave her 60 points on the season. She is the fourth Laker to post 60 points in a single season, joining C.J. Ireland, Meghan Agosta and junior Jesse Scanzano.

The Lakers have concluded their regular season schedule, and hold the No. 1 seed for the CHA Tournament, to be contested in Detroit, Mich. Thursday, March 4 through Saturday, March 6. Mercyhurst will play the winner of Robert Morris and Wayne State in the semifinal Friday, March 5.