ERIE, Pa. - After a layoff of more than a month, the #9/10 Mercyhurst University women's hockey team will return to action this Friday and Saturday, Janaury 16 and 17, when it hosts College Hockey America-rival Syracuse University at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Faceoffs are slated for 3:00 p.m. on Friday and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The Lakers (16-4-2, 7-3-0 CHA) have a three-point lead over the Orange (6-10-7, 4-2-3 CHA) in the conference standings with roughly five weeks left in the regular season. Mercyhurst has owned the all-time series, 28-1-2, but Syracuse snapped a 30-game winless streak against Mercyhurst with a 4-1 victory over the Lakers in their last meeting on November 8 in Syracuse.
Mercyhurst last played on December 12 and 13 when it suffered a two-game sweep at the hands of Penn State at the Pegula Ice Arena in State College. The Lakers dropped a 2-1 decision in game one before falling by a 5-3 count the following afternoon. The Lakers enter the weekend series having lost two straight for the first time since bowing to Cornell (6-4) and Robert Morris (3-1) at the Ice Center last January. The two-game sweep by a conference opponent was the first since Robert Morris won 3-1 and 2-1 decisions December 7 and 8 of 2012 in suburban Pittsburgh.
THE SERIES...•Mercyhurst leads the all-time series against Syracuse, 28-1-2, which includes a 13-0-1 mark against the Orange at the Mercyhurst Ice Center
•The teams split a weekend series in Syracuse on November 7 and 8. Mercyhurst defeated Syracuse, 5-1, on Friday, November 7, before the Orange posted their first-ever win against the Lakers with a 4-1 decision the following afternoon
•The only blemish at home for the Lakers against the Orange was a 3-3 overtime tie on November 15, 2013. Mercyhurst has outscored Syracuse at home by a 55-18 margin.
ABOUT MERCYHURST...•Mercyhurst has not played since December 12 and 13 when it suffered a two-game sweep at the hands of Penn State in State College. The Lakers lost by the scores of 2-1 and 5-3 to drop to 16-4-2 overall and 7-3-0 in the CHA standings
•Junior forward
Jenna Dingeldein became the 18th member of the 100-point club when she notched her 11th goal of the season in the first period on December 13. She has 41 goals and 59 assists in 96 career games with the Lakers
•Senior forward
Shelby Bram was held scoreless in the series at Penn State and remains within four points of also reaching the milestone
•Bram helped lead Team Canada's National Development Team to a gold medal at the 2015 Nations Cup in Germany over the break. She had one goal during the tournament
•Assistant coach
Delaney Collins helped Canada's U-18 National Team to a silver medal at the 2015 IIHF World Championships in Buffalo over the break. Junior forward
Emily Janiga took part in the USA Hockey Women's Winter Training Camp over the holidays
•After scoring the game-tying goal at Cornell on December 1, junior forward
Hannah Bale recorded her first multiple-goal game and broke a career-high with three points in a 5-2 victory over Lindenwood on December 6. She finished with two goals (including her first career shorthanded goal) and added an assist. Bale is fourth on the team in scoring this season with six goals and seven assists for 13 points. During her first two seasons (46 games), Bale had two goals and one assist
•The victory on Tuesday, November 25 against Colgate was win #400 in the history of the women's hockey program and was win #400 for head coach
Michael Sisti. Sisti became the second coach in Division I history to reach 400 career wins while the program became the third-fastest to reach the plateau (545 games). Only Minnesota (502) and New Hamsphire (506) reached 400 faster
•Junior
Emily Janiga one goal and two assists in the sweep of Lindenwood and followed that up with three goals in the two-game series at Penn State. She leads the Lakers with 17 goals and 13 assists this season and now has 112 points in 96 career games. She joined the 100-point club on November 22 against RIT and ranks 14th on the school's all-time scoring list
•Janiga was named CHA Player of the Month for November, leading the Lakers to a 7-1 record with seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in the eight games
•Senior defenseman
Molly Byrne had an assist in the Penn State series to give her 106 career points. She beat Janiga to the milestone by one day (November 21 against RIT) and ranks 15th on the program's all-time scoring list
•Senior
Amanda Makela posted back-to-back shutouts against Colgate on November 25 and 26 to give her seven shutouts on the season. She is one shy of tying the school record of eight held by Desi Clark during the 2001-02 season. She ranks fifth in the country in goals against average (1.18) and sixth in save percentage (.939)
•Makela was named the CHA Goaltender of the Month in November after posting a 7-1 record with three shutouts. She stopped 160-of-166 shots during the eight starts - 0.76 goals against average and a .964 save percentage
•Mercyhurst ranks second in the country in killing off penalties, allowing only six power play goals in 90 chances (93.3%). Only Wisconsin (95.6%) is better
ABOUT SYRACUSE...•Syracuse enters the series in a tie for second place in the conference - three points behind CHA-leading Mercyhurst. The Orange are 6-10-7 overall and 4-2-3 in conference play
•The Orange have played three games since the new year - a 2-1 loss at Colgate on January 6 and a split at North Dakota on January 10 and 11 (L 1-4; W 2-1)
•A pair of freshmen lead the Orange in scoring this season. Stephanie Grossi has six goals and 14 assists for 20 points to lead the squad while Alysha Burriss has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points. Junior Melissa Piacentini leads the team with 11 goals
•Junior Jenn Gilligan, a transfer from New Hampshire, has seen most of the time in goal. She is 6-10-6 with a 2.74 goals against average and an .894 save percentage
•Syracuse is allowing 3.13 goals per game this season - 27th out of 34 teams in the country. Its penalty kill is tied for 25th in the country at 80.6%
•Head coach Paul Flanagan is in his seventh season as the Syracuse head coach. He has guided the Orange to a 97-110-24 record. Overall, he is in his 16th season as a head coach and has amassed 327 career victories
