Complete Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - The "Killer B's" did it again!  Senior Bailey Bram, sophomore Christine Bestland, and freshman Shelby Bram, who comprise Mercyhurst's top line, combined for three goals and six assists on Wednesday afternoon to lead the Mercyhurst women's hockey team to a 4-1 victory over St. Lawrence and completing a mid-week sweep of the Saints. The Lakers, who have won nine games in a row, improved to 10-2-0 overall, while the Saints dropped to 6-7-3 on the season.

The three combined fox six first period points for the Lakers, as Mercyhurst jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes. Bestland scored both goals, her 10th and 11th goals of the season, to become the third player to reach double figures in goals through the first 12 games. Her first of the period came at the 7:56 mark, as she banged home a rebound past St. Lawrence goaltender Carmen MacDonald.

Bestland then scored her second of the period at the 15:30 mark after a great centering pass. The sophomore one-timed it past MacDonald, giving Mercyhurst a 2-0 advantage. Both Bram sisters had the assists on the two goals.

Mercyhurst held a slight advantage in shots, 11-10, after the opening period.

The game remained 2-0 until Bailey Bram picked up her team-leading 16th goal of the season at the 2:58 mark of the third period. With the Lakers on the power play, Bram finished off a flurry in front of the St. Lawrence goal, poking the puck  past MacDonald, who had stopped three prior shots right in front of the net. Senior Jess Jones and Bestland had the assists on the goal.

That set up a wild finish.

After calling a timeout, St. Lawrence elected to pull MacDonald with 8:11 left in the third period. Each team had been whistled for a minor penalty, setting up a 5-on-4 advantage. The plan worked, as Karell Emard got the Saints on the board less than a minute later, at the 12:50 mark, tipping in a shot from the point from Brooke Fernandez. At the same time as the goal, Mercyhurst's Molly Byrne was whistled for a cross-checking minor, so the Saints decided to keep their netminder on the bench.

The Lakers' senior netminder Hillary Pattenden had to make some critical saves during the stretch, and she also got some help from her defense, which blocked a number of shots during the time St. Lawrence's goaltender was on the bench.

After all penalties had expired, junior Lauren Jones  put the icing on the cake for Mercyhurst, cashing in an empty net goal with 1:40 left in the game. Bailey Bram assisted on Jones' sixth goal of the season.

All told, the Lakers outshot the Saints 41-32 for the game, including a 20-13 advantage in the third period alone. Pattenden picked up her ninth win of the season, and 89th of her career, after stopping 31-of-32 St. Lawrence shots. She is now two wins shy of tying the NCAA Division I record of 91 victories, held by former Wisconsin goaltender Jessie Vetter. She is 9-2-0 on the season and 89-14-3 for her career. 

Meanwhile, MacDonald made 37 saves in 54:05. During the wild finish to the third period, the Saints netminder was on the bench for nearly six minutes. She dropped to 3-4-2 on the season.

Mercyhurst converted 1-of-4 power play opportunities, while the Saints were 0-for-5 on the power play.

The Lakers (10-2-0) are off now until Friday, December 2 and Saturday, December 3, when they return home to host #3 Cornell at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.