ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst University women's hockey team broke open a 1-1 tie with four goals in the second period and went on to defeat the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL)'s Buffalo Beauts, 6-2, on Friday night in an exhibition game at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Senior Emily Janiga started the scoring at the 7:31 mark of the opening period – her first of two goals on the night. Freshman Sarah Hine and sophomore Brooke Hartwick had the assists.

Buffalo tied the game at 1-1 at 13:45 when Emily Pfalzer scored a shorthanded goal against freshman starting goaltender, Sarah McDonnell. Kourtney Kunichika had the lone assist.

Shots were dead even at six apiece in the opening twenty minutes.

As planned, head coach Michael Sisti changed goaltenders at the start of the second period, replacing McDonnell with sophomore Jessica Convery. The Laker offense then rewarded the sophomore netminder.

Hartwick put the Lakers ahead for good when she tallied a power play marker at 2:44. Freshman Rachael Smith and sophomore Sarah Robello had the helpers. Freshman Morgan Stacey then scored the eventual game-winner at 6:34 with junior defenders Paige Horton and Jillian Skinner picking up the assists.

Senior J'nai Mahadeo scored 25 seconds later to give the Lakers a 4-1 advantage. Robello and Hartwick had the helpers. Following a goaltending change by the Beauts, Janiga scored her second goal of the contest at 11:17 to finish off the second period scoring.

Sophomore Jennifer MacAskill gave the Lakers a 6-1 lead with a goal just 1:54 into the third period. Stacey and Skinner earned the assists.

Hannah McGowan finished the scoring on the night with a power play goal for the Beauts against freshman Kerri St. Denis at 11:20. Hailey Browne and Pfalzer had the assists.

McDonnell stopped 5-of-6 shots in the opening period while Convery stopped all six shots she faced in the second. St. Denis allowed one goal on three shots in the final period. For the Beauts, Kimberly Sass suffered the loss after stopping just 10-of-14 shots in just over 30 minutes of action. Brianne McLaughlin came on in relief and allowed two goals on 17 shots.

Convery was credited with the win.Mercyhurst will return to action on Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17 with a pair of non-conference games at Northeastern University. Faceoffs are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. respectively.