Complete Notes
Live Stats
Live Video
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The seventh-ranked Mercyhurst University women's hockey team will meet the Nittany Lions of Penn State University in a two-game conference series this weekend. The series begins Friday, February 1 at 7:00 p.m. and concludes February 2 at 2:00 p.m. at the Greensburg Ice Pavilion.
Mercyhurst is 2-0 against CHA-newcomer Penn State University. Penn State elevated to varsity status this season and is one of three new members of the six teams in College Hockey America. The two teams' first meetings this season came at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa. at the end of November when the Lakers swept the Nittany Lions 5-0 and 7-1.
The 5-0 win marked sophomore goaltender
Amanda Makela's second career shutout while five different Lakers contributed a goal in the victory. On December 1, freshman
Jaclyn Arbour and
Maggie Rothgery tallied their first collegiate goal and Arbour collected the first game-winner of her career during the 7-1 win. Sophomore
Molly Byrne tallied a goal and two assists, while junior captain
Christine Bestland added a goal and a helper.
Penn State is looking to pick up its first win since January 5 against Chatham University. Last weekend, Penn State traveled to conference-rival Syracuse and dropped a 1-0 decision Friday and then fell 4-1 Saturday. Penn State also played an out-of-conference game against Princeton during the week and lost 3-0. Jill Holdcroft scored the only Nittany Lions' goal in the last three games, which was her eighth of the season.
COMPLETE NOTES
THE SERIES
Mercyhurst holds a lifetime 2-0 against CHA-newcomer Penn State University. Penn State joined varsity status this season and is one of three new members of the six teams in College Hockey America. The two teams first meetings this season was at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa. on November 30 and December 1, 2012. The Lakers swept the Nittany Lions 5-0 and 7-1 over the Lakers' home series. The 5-0 win marked sophomore goaltender Amanda Makela's second career shutout while five different Lakers contributed a goal in the victory. On December 1, freshman Jaclyn Arbour and Maggie Rothgery tallied their first collegiate goal and Arbour's first game-winner of her career during the 7-1 win. Sophomore Molly Byrne tallied a goal and two assists, while junior captain Christine Bestland scored a goal and a helper.
ABOUT MERCYHURST
The seventh-ranked Mercyhurst University women's hockey team swept Lindenwood University 10-1 Friday, January 25 and 5-1 Saturday, January 26. Both games were played in two different locations due to a water main break on Main Campus. Friday's contest was played at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena in Jamestown, N.Y. and Saturday's contest was played at the Erie Insurance Arena. Friday's victory was a team effort as eight different Lakers scored a goal. The last time eight different Lakers scored a goal was back on January 15, 2011 when the Lakers hosted Brown University and won 12-0. Six different Lakers had a multipoint game, including Freshman Jenna Dingeldein (4), junior captain Christine Bestland (4), freshman Emily Janiga (3), and sophomore Shelby Bram (4). Bram and Bestland both tallied a career-high four assists in a single game on Friday. Bestland also marked her 150th career point on her fourth assists. Another milestone was achieved on Friday by sophomore Caroline Luczak when she scored her first career goal as a Laker halfway through the third period. Goaltender's Amanda Makela and freshman Julia DiTondo split time in the net for the Lakers. Makela made eight saves and playing in 35:15 minutes. DiTondo made her first appearance between the pipes as a Laker, playing in 24:43 minutes and made 9 saves. On Saturday, Dingeldein continued her scoring pace with two goals, while Bestland tallied a goal and an assist. Junior Christie Cicero scored a goal and an assist in the 5-1 victory, continuing her scoring streak to eight games which is the longest on the team this season. Senior assistant captain Lauren Jones scored her seventh goal of the season in late in the third, while Janiga picked up two more assists. Senior goaltender Stephanie Ciampa picked up another win after making 24 saves on 25 shots to improve her record to 11-1-0. The Lakers are now 17-0-0 after scoring the first goal of the game throughout the season, after scoring first in both contests over Lindenwood. Mercyhurst has won all four meetings this season with the Lady Lions. Lindenwood scored the first goal of the series on November 2 but, since then, the Lakers have tallied 22 goals in succession before Lindenwood scored again on Saturday- 6-1, 6-0, 10-0, 5-1.
The Lakers met fifth-ranked Cornell in a mid-week contest in Ithaca, New York. The Lakers suffered a 4-0 loss after giving up three goals in the first period. Cornell's Brianne Jenner was unstoppable as she had two of the three goals in the first period. Makela started between the pipes for the Lakers' where she made 9 saves on 12 shots. Ciampa relieved her at the start of the second to allow one goal late in the third period and made 10 saves. Janiga led the team with 5 shots on net and Bestland followed behind with four. The Lakers' defense held Cornell to 0-for-3 on the power-play but could not muster their own power-play opportunity as the Cornell penalty-kill (ranked second in the country) stopped all of Mercyhurst's eight power-play chances.
ABOUT PENN STATE
Penn State has lost their last five games and is looking to pick up their first win since January 5 against Chatham University. The Nittany Lions are 4-6-1 overall at University Park, and are looking to pick up their first CHA win on home ice as they are 0-5-1 against conference opponents. Last weekend, Penn State traveled to Syracuse to complete the four-game series against the conference opponent. The Nittany Lions dropped a 1-0 decision Friday and then fell 4-1 Saturday. Penn State also competed in a mid-week out-of-conference opponent against Princeton where they fell 3-0. Jill Holdcroft scored the only Nittany Lions' goal in the last three games, which marked her eighth of the season. Shannon Yoxheimer and Jess Desorcie tallied the assists. Yoxheimer leads her team with 24 points on 12 goals and 12 assists in her rookie season. Taylor Gross follows behind with 18 points and Desorcie has 16 points. Goaltender Nicole Paniccia (6-12-1) has played in 19 games, averaging a 3.17 goals against average, and a .922 save percentage on 666 shots against.
