ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Mercyhurst women's ice hockey team defeated the Rochester Institute of Technology, 4-1, in a College Hockey America contest on Friday.

Rachael Smith and Emily Janiga had two-point games -- Smith, with a goal and an assist, and Janiga, with two assists -- as the Lakers maintained sole possession of first place with three conference games remaining.

Brooke Hartwick, Jaclyn Arbour and Jenna Dingeldein also had goals for the Lakers (15-10-4, 12-3-2) while winning goaltender Sarah McDonnell finished with 20 saves.

Hartwick gave MU a first-period lead, getting assists from Megan Whiddon and J'nai Mahadeo, and the visiting Lakers stayed in front the rest of the game.

In the second, Arbour increased Mercyhurst's lead to 2-0 with assists from Kathy Donohue and Hannah Bale. RIT's Jess Patton answered for the hosts with two minutes left in the period, trimming MU's advantage to 2-1.

Mercyhurst pushed its lead to 3-1 on Smith's goal with 7:40 left in regulation -- credit Janiga and Jennifer MacAskill with assists. Smith and Janiga were in on the game's final goal when Dingeldein converted an empty-netter with 56 seconds on the clock.

Jetta Rackleff was the goaltender for RIT (7-23-1, 3-13-1), totaling 25 saves. Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play as Mercyhurst held a 29-21 shot advantage.

The same two teams will meet again tomorrow in Rochester.