ITHACA, N.Y. - The #8/10 Mercyhurst University women's hockey team will resume its non-conference rivalry at perennial power Cornell University on Monday night, December 1. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from historic Lynah Rink on Cornell's campus.
The game will mark the 24th meeting between the two schools with the Lakers (14-2-1, 5-1-0 CHA) holding a 15-6-2 edge in the all-time series over Big Red (3-6-0, 3-2-0 ECAC).
The regular season has not been kind to Mercyhurst is recent history against Cornell as the Lakers have gone 1-5-1 against Big Red dating back to a 5-1 loss at Cornell on January 18, 2011. But, the Lakers have won when it mattered more, eliminating Cornell in the NCAA Quarterfinals in each of the last two seasons - both at Lynah Rink.
Mercyhurst enters the contest winners of its last five games, and 11 of its last 12. The Lakers posted back-to-back shutout victories at the Mercyhurst Ice Center against Colgate on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mercyhurst blanked the Raiders, 3-0, on Tuesday night before getting a goal from junior
Emily Janiga with 1:46 left in regulation for a 1-0 victory on Wednesday afternoon. Janiga finished the two-game series with two goals and two assists while senior goaltender
Amanda Makela earn both shutout wins. Makela now has seven shutouts this season, one shy of the single-season school record of eight held by Mercyhurst Athletic Hall of Famer, Desi Clark, during the 2001-02 season.
Janiga leads the offense with 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points in 17 games this season, which now gives her 106 points in 91 career games. Junior
Jenna Dingeldein has chipped in with seven goals and ten assists for 17 points, moving her to within five points of joining the 100-point club. Freshman
Sarah Robello is third on the team with five goals and ten assists for 15 points in her rookie campaign.
Makela has played every minute in goal and is having her best season as a Laker. She is 14-2-1 with a 0.88 goals against average and a .955 save percentage, ranking second in the country in goals against average and third in save percentage among goaltenders from full-fledged Division I members.
Special teams, especially the penalty killing unit, has been very good. The Lakers have converted 17.1% of their power play chances which ranks them in the middle-of-the-pack among Division I teams. On the flip side, Mercyhurst has allowed just three power play goals in 76 opponent chances (96.1%) to rank second in the country in that category.
Cornell enters with a disappointing 3-6-0 overall record - as many losses in nine games this season as it has had in each of the last two seasons. Big Red is led by a trio of seniors who have combined to score 441 points in their careers. Emily Fulton leads with five goals and nine assists for 14 points while Jillian Saulnier and Brianne Jenner have eight and seven points respectively.
Defense and goaltending, normally Cornell's strength, has struggled. Big Red has allowed 3.67 goals per game this season while their penalty killing unit has killed off just 79.6% of opponent chances. Sophomore Paula Voorhees has seen most of the time in goal and is 3-5-0 with a 3.82 goals against average and an .871 save percentage.
