ERIE, Pa. – Rochester Institute of Technology ended the Mercyhurst University women's hockey team's bid for a College Hockey America (CHA) championship and an 11th straight appearance in the NCAA tournament on Friday afternoon with a 4-1 win over the Lakers in the conference semifinals at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Tigers, 14-18-5 overall, won their fourth straight contest and earned the right to play Syracuse, a 2-0 victor over Penn State in Friday's other semifinal, for the CHA Championship Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The winner gets the conference's first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Mercyhurst, the CHA regular season champs for the 13th straight time, ended its season with a 23-9-3 mark.

RIT senior forward Marissa Maugeri put the guests in front when she beat Mercyhurst senior netminder Amanda Makela (20-8-3) in a 4-on-4 situation at 8:52 of the first. Maugeri's eighth of the year was the period's lone goal as the Lakers held a 12-5 advantage in shots.

Mercyhurst evened the game at 7:56 of the second when sophomore defenseman Jillian Skinner tallied her second goal of the season, beating RIT senior goaltender Ali Binnington (11-10-3). Skinner got help from senior Shelby Bram and freshman Sarah Robello. That would prove to be the Lakers' last hurrah, however, as Tigers' sophomore Mackenzie Stone put the visitors ahead to stay with her sixth of the year at 18:47. The two teams divided 16 shots on goal in the second.

The Tigers stretched the lead to 3-1 when sophomore Cassie Clayton scored from the doorstep at 5:07 of the third. Then, with the clock winding down and the Lakers' season on the brink, Makela was pulled for an extra attacker. The strategy backfired when sophomore Cailtin Wallace shot the puck into an empty net at 19:05. Mercyhurst outshot RIT, 7-5, in the third and 27-18 for the 60 minutes.

The Lakers failed on five power play chances while the Tigers failed on four tries.

Binnington, who has now allowed just two goals over her last four starts, improved her postseason record to 10-1.

Notes: Mercyhurst had won all four games in the regular season against the Tigers and had outscored them 16-3…the Makela vs. Binnington matchup was their first meeting since the Tigers defeated Mercyhurst 2-1 in double overtime last season in the CHA championship game…both Skinner's goals this season were scored against RIT…the Lakers loss at home was their second this season (16-2-1); their only other loss came in October against Northeastern 4-0…the Tigers power play finished 1 of 28 against the Lakers in five games…Makela ended her career with 52 wins