Complete Notes
Live Stats
Live Video


ERIE, Pa. – The seventh-ranked Mercyhurst University women's hockey team will host Robert Morris University on Friday, February 8 and February 9 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.  The two teams will meet at center ice for the CHA-rivalry at 3:00 p.m. on Friday and 2:00 p.m. Saturday. 
 
Each individual who attends Friday's contest will receive a “Mercyless” rally towel courtesy of Mercyhurst University Student Government.  Saturday will also mark  the first annual “Faculty Appreciation Day” for the Lakers where they will honor the faculty of the Mercyhurst University campus.
 
Mercyhurst holds a lifetime 30-4-1 over the Colonials.  At the Mercyhurst Ice Center, the Lakes are 13-1-0 losing only to Robert Morris on home ice last season.  The Lakers are 21-5-1 overall and 12-2-0 in the CHA heading into the weekend.  The only two loses in conference play are against Robert Morris back in the beginning of December. 
 
The Lakers (21-5-1, 12-2) swept Penn State University last weekend with the help of leading scorer,  junior captain Christine Bestland.  Bestland tallied her second hat-trick of the season, second of her career against the Nittany Lions on Friday in a 5-2 victory.  Sophomore Molly Byrne added two assists in the victory.  The Lakers took the second game Saturday, winning 4-1 with Bestland collecting two goals.  Sophomore Shelby Bram and Vaila Higson also tallied goals on Saturday. 
 
Bestland reached 58 points tthis season on Saturday, matching her career high, and leads the team with 20 goals and 38 assists.  Freshman Emily Janiga is second on the team with 35 points and second in goals with 17.  Freshman Jenna Dingeldein follows closely behind with 31 points on 12 goals and 19 assists.  Senior netminder Stephanie Ciampa improved to 12-1-0 after the victory Saturday.  She allows 1.25 goals per game and is fourth in the country with a .942 save percentage.
 
Robert Morris (10-11-3, 6-7-1) is currently fourth in the College Hockey America standings heading into the final weeks of the regular season.  The Colonials have not won a game since beating Lindenwood back on January 12 and are looking to break the streak against instate rival Mercyhurst.  Last weekend, the Colonials hosted Syracuse where they dropped both contests against the Orange by scores of 3-2 and 2-1.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

THE SERIES

Mercyhurst holds a lifetime 30-4-1 against the Colonials, dating back to 2005 when Robert Morris first started their program. The Lakers have not won a contest in their last four meetings (0-3-1) against the Colonials. All four games have taken place at the Robert Morris Island Sports Complex. At the Mercyhurst Ice Center, the Lakers are 13-1-0 against Robert Morris, dropping their only loss back on January 21, 2012. These two CHA-foes have created an instate competition, as Robert Morris leads 2-4-1 over the last two years, having winning their first every game against the Lakers last season. Earlier this year, the Lakers were swept by the Colonials before heading into the holiday break. At the time, the Lakers were ranked fourth among the top Division I teams and Robert Morris, unranked, was second in the College Hockey America conference. The Colonial defense held the Lakers to only two goals over the weekend, with the help of Robert Morris goaltender Kristin DiCiocco with a combined 59 saves. Freshman Jenna Dingeldein and sophomore Shelby Bram tallied the only Mercyhurst goals. Junior Christie Cicero contributed a helper on each goal.

ABOUT MERCYHURST

With six games left, the Mercyhurst University women's hockey team is in the running for another NCAA tournament playoff appearance. The Lakers are currently ranked seventh in the country according to the latest USCHO.com Division I women's hockey poll, and are first in the College Hockey America conference with a three point lead over Syracuse. The Lakers finished last weekend 2-1 over the past week, falling to Cornell University Tuesday and picking up two wins over Penn State Friday/Saturday. 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. The Lakers took away a 5-2 win Friday and 4-1 win Saturday from Penn State University to improve to 12-2-0 in the CHA. Junior Captain Christine Bestland tallied five goals and one assist for six points in the weekend victories. On Friday, Bestland scored her second career hat trick on two power-play goals to lead her team to the 5-2 win. Sophomore Molly Byrne tallied two helpers, while seven other Lakers tallied one. Senior Jenna Hendrikx and junior Kaleigh Chippy contributed to the other two goals. On Saturday, Bestland scored two more goals and added an assist in the 4-1 win. Sophomore Shelby Bram tallied the first goal of the contest while sophomore defender Vaila Higson scored a goal after catching Penn State goaltender Nicole Paniccia off guard mid-way through the third. Freshman Jenna Dingeldein contributed two assists during Saturday's contest. Goaltenders Stephanie Ciampa and Amanda Makela split the weekend series between the pipes for the Lakers. Ciampa (12-1-0) played the entire contest Friday, stopping 17 of 19 shots on goal. Makela (9-4-1) made 11 saves on 12 shots in 59:50 minutes played.

ABOUT ROBERT MORRIS

Robert Morris has completed an overall record of 10-11-3 overall and 6-7-1 in the College Hockey America Standings. The Colonials have established some sort of instate rivalry after holding the Lakers to an overall record of 2-4-1 over the last two seasons. Robert Morris took away the Lakers only two wins in the last meeting on December 7/8. The Colonials have not won a contest since beating Lindenwood on January 12, and are looking to upset Mercyhurst yet again. Each contest since January 12 has been in a one or two goal deficit, and Robert Morris has taken four different contests into overtime with three ending in a tie. Last weekend, the Colonials were swept by Syracuse at the Robert Morris Island Sports Complex. Friday, the Colonials dropped a 3-2 decision after coming back when trailing 3-1 in the third. Saturday, Syracuse scored with less than one minute remaining in regulation to beat Robert Morris 2-1. Thea Imborgno and Corbina Delaney both tallied a goal in the loss Friday, while Imborgno also added a helper during Saturday's contest. Colonial's leading scorer Rebecca Vint notched two assists on Friday, while Kelsey Thomas scored the only Colonial goal Saturday. Vint leads the Colonials with 27 points on 13 goals and 14 assists. Thomas is second on the team with 21 points, and Kristen Richards has 16 points on 8 goals and assists. Kristen DiCiocco has allowed 46 goals this season, and is averaging 2.23 goals against average. In over 1,236 minutes, Diciocco has made 520 saves for a .919 save percentage.