ERIE, Pa. – After a 34-day break, the #9/10 Mercyhurst University women's hockey team finally began the 2015 portion of its schedule with a 1-1 overtime tie against visiting Syracuse University in a College Hockey America (CHA) contest Friday afternoon at the Ice Center. The Lakers, 16-4-3 overall and 7-3-1 in the conference, are now winless in their last three (0-2-1). Syracuse, which played its ninth overtime game of the season (0-1-8), is now 6-10-8 and 4-2-4 respectively.
 
Mercyhurst had not played since December 12 and 13 when it suffered a two-game sweep at the hands of CHA-rival Penn State in State College. Syracuse arrived with three games under its belt in the New Year: a 2-0 loss at Colgate January 6 and a split at North Dakota (1-4; 2-1) on January 10 and 11.

Both teams had just five shots on goal in a scoreless first period.
 
Mercyhurst junior defenseman Lauren Kilroy scored the middle period's lone goal at 10:35. Her first goal of the season came after a brilliant centering feed from freshman forward Sarah Robello. Junior winger Hannah Bale also assisted on the goal that came against Syracuse junior netminder Jenn Gilligan (6-10-7). The Lakers had a slight 9-7 advantage in second-period shots.

It was just Kilroy's second career goal in 97 collegiate games. Named the game's First Star, Kilroy also blocked a career-high eight shots in the defensive zone.

The home team held the lead until Syracuse freshman Alysha Burriss collected her ninth of the year, beating Mercyhurst senior goalie Amanda Makela (16-4-3) at 9:31 of the third.

Neither team was able to find the back-of-the-net in the last 10:29 of regulation and a five-minute overtime. Syracuse outshot Mercyhurst 9-4 in the third. Both teams had two shots in the extra session.

Thanks to a 9-7 advantage in power play chances, Syracuse outshot the Lakers 23-20. The Orange were 0 for 9 with the extra skater while the Lakers finished 0 for 7. The teams combined for 42 penalty minutes – 24 to Syracuse, which was assessed a ten-minute misconduct to Jule Knerr in the second period.
 
Makela stopped 22 of 23 shots while Gilligan saved 19 of 20.
 
The two teams will conclude the weekend series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
 
Notes: Mercyhurst is now 13-0-1 when leading after two periods...Kilroy's lamplighter was the second of her 97-game career. Her first, a game-winner, came in a 3-2 win at R.I.T on November 23, 2013…Mercyhurst is now 28-1-3 lifetime against the Orange and 13-0-2 at the Ice Center. The teams played to a 3-3 stalemate November 15, 2013…The teams are 1-1-1 this season as the Lakers and Orange split a pair of games in Syracuse on November 7 (5-1) and November 8 (1-4)…Mercyhurst junior forward Emily Janiga had a four-game scoring streak snapped…Senior forward Shelby Bram was held without a point and remains four shy of 100 for her career…The Lakers have a three-point lead over the Orange in the chase for first-place in the conference with roughly five weeks left in the regular season…After scoring eleven goals in a two-game sweep at home of conference-rival, Lindenwood, December 5 and 6, the Lakers have totaled only five goals in their last three outings…Mercyhurst has only three home games left in the regular season