Mercyhurst Game Notes
RIT Game Notes

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The tenth-ranked Mercyhurst University women's hockey team travels to Rochester, New York this weekend to take on the Tigers of RIT for a pair of College Hockey America contests. Faceoffs from the Ritter Arena are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. both Friday and Saturday afternoons.

The teams have met four times in the all-time series with the Lakers winning all four contests last season in RIT's first year of Division I competition. Mercyhurst outscored RIT in the four games by a 22-5 margin. Senior Christine Bestland scored at least one point in all four games and finished with five goals and five assists against the Tigers in 2012-13.

The Lakers (7-4-2, 2-1-1 CHA) enter the weekend having gone 1-0-1 last weekend on home ice against the Orange of Syracuse, remaining unbeaten in the all-time series against their conference rivals (24-0-2). Mercyhurst had to come-from-behind in Friday's contest to salvage a 3-3 overtime tie, thanks to an unlikely hero - sophomore J'nai Mahadeo, who scored he first collegiate goal (and first collegiate point) to tie the game at 3-3 with 4:06 left in regulation.

It was Mercyhurst's first non-loss of the season when trailing after two periods (0-3-1).

On Saturday, Mercyhurst broke a 3-3 tie with a pair of goals by seniors Christie Cicero and Kaleigh Chippy in the final 2:56 of regulation to earn a 5-3 victory. The duo, who had missed Friday's game after serving one-game suspensions, combined for three goals and an assist in Saturday's win.

Bestland, meanwhile, had two goals and two assists over the weekend and continues to pace the Lakers in scoring with seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points. She is just nine points away from becoming the fifth player in school history to record 200 career points in a Mercyhurst uniform, joining Meghan Agosta, Jesse Scanzano, Bailey Bram, and Valerie Chouinard. Three other Lakers joined Bestland as players with double-digit points over the weekend - junior Shelby Bram, sophomore Emily Janiga, and Cicero.

Junior Amanda Makela started both games in goal and improved to 7-4-2 on the season. She has a 1.93 goals against average and a .927 save percentage, ranking ninth and tenth in the country in those categories respectively. She is also tied for third in the country in shutouts with four.

The Tigers (7-5-1, 3-0-1 CHA) have been an early-season surprise in the conference and are unbeaten in their first four league games of the season. They find themselves in second place in the standings with seven points, trailing only conference leader Robert Morris.

Last weekend, RIT swept Penn State at the Ritter Arena in a pair of one-goal games. The Tigers won 2-1 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday to move into second place in the standings in just their second season of Division I hockey.

Kourtney Kunichika leads RIT in scoring with five goals and four assists for nine points. She has 121 points in 105 career games with the Tigers and is one of just two players on RIT's roster that has played in at least 100 career games. Ali Binnington has been sensational in goal thus far, posting a 7-3-1 record with a 1.97 goals against average and a .928 save percentage.

After this weekend, Mercyhurst will jump right back into action with a pair of non-conference games at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. The Lakers will entertain St. Lawrence University on Tuesday, November 26 at 7:00 p.m. and on Wednesday, November 27 at 3:00 p.m. right before the Thanksgiving holiday.