PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The fourth-ranked Mercyhurst College women's hockey team improved its College Hockey America record to 8-0 with a 6-3 win over Robert Morris on Friday evening at the RMU Island Sports Center. With the victory, the Lakers bounce back from a 3-0 loss to second-ranked Cornell earlier this week and move their overall record to 19-5-0 on the season.

Freshman Christine Bestland scored two goals to lead the Lakers to their 25th straight win over the Colonials dating back to the 2005-06 campaign. Freshman Christie Cicero and senior captain Meghan Agosta netted a goal and an assist, and sophomores Lauren Jones and Jessica Christofferson added single scores.

Mercyhurst overcame an early deficit in the first period, scoring three straight goals after RMU's Sara O'Malley opened the game with her ninth goal of the season just two minutes and 50 seconds in. Bestland and Chistofferson combined for three goals within a three-minute and 11-second span, with Bestland scoring the team's first and third goals at 8:30 and 11:41, and Christofferson adding the second at 9:02.

Robert Morris made things interesting in the second with a 2-1 run to pull within a goal, at 4-3. Following Cicero's eighth goal of the season at 1:33, Brianna Delaney and Kelsey Thomas netted back-to-back markers at 13:50 and 14:45.

Despite the rush, the Lakers would turn aside the Colonials in the third period with a pair of scores. Agosta added her 25th of the season on the power play at 4:24 while Lauren Jones closed out the game at the 14:40 mark.

In goal, junior Hillary Pattenden moved her record to 17-5-0 with 18 saves. Meeri Raisanen, on the other hand, posted 40 saves despite suffering the loss. Mercyhurst finished the game with a 46-21 advantage in shots and killed off all four Colonial power plays.

Both teams close out the two-game series on Saturday, Jan. 22 with a 2 p.m. contest at the RMU Island Sports Center.