ERIE, Pa. – Paige Horton's early third period goal was enough to bring Mercyhurst into a 3-3 draw with seventh-ranked Robert Morris in Saturday afternoon's physical College Hockey America contest played at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
 
After it took 52 minutes a night earlier for either team to score, it took just 5:01 for Mercyhurst to get the initial tally in Saturday's game. After Jennifer MacAskill stole the puck in the offensive zone, she fired a pass to Sarah Hine who was camped out in front of Robert Morris goalie Jessica Dodds. Hine redirected the pass into the net for her sixth goal of the season to put the Lakers ahead 1-0.
 
Robert Morris responded just over two minutes later to knot the game at one. The Colonials created a turnover in the offensive zone resulting in a two-on-one. Jaycee Gebhard faked the shot and passed to Brittany Howard whose initial shot was stopped by Laker goaltender Sarah McDonnell. The rebound came back to Howard and she chipped it in for her 15^th of the season at 7:03 in the first period.
 
In the second period, Robert Morris earned their first lead of the game at the 4:40 mark. Kirsten Welsh banked a pass off the boards to create a two-on-one for Maeve Garvey and Amanda Pantaleo. Garvey shot a puck off the pads of McDonnell that redirected right to Pantaleo who finished on the open net to put RMU up 2-1.
 
The Lakers fought their way back to tie the game again at 6:40. After winning a faceoff in the offensive zone, Brooke Hartwick left the puck for Molly Blasen who threw a cross-ice pass back to Hartwick. Hartwick flicked the puck past Dodds for her team-leading twelfth of the year to tie the game at two.
 
Mercyhurst ran itself into a string of penalties that caused them to be shorthanded for almost six straight minutes. The Colonials took advantage on a brief five-on-three with Gebhard scoring from the goal line to the right of McDonnell. Robert Morris led 3-2 at the second intermission.
 
Just under three minutes into the third period, the Lakers got an all-important equalizer from their captain. Rachael Smith found Paige Horton on a give-and-go and Horton went to the forehand against Dodds to tie the game at three. Her second goal of the season came at 2:56 in the third.
 
From then on out, physical defensive play ruled the period. Robert Morris managed 11 shots on goal with Mercyhurst tallying six, but neither found the go-ahead goal, leading to a five-minute overtime period.
 
It was more of the same in overtime as both teams did not find any open ice to score the game-winner. Mercyhurst recorded the only two shots of the extra period, but no rubber found the twine, resulting in a 3-3 tie.
 
Mercyhurst (8-16-2, 4-7-1) continues CHA conference play next weekend with two games in State College, Pa. against Penn State. The Lakers and Nittany Lions face off at 6:00 on Friday, Jan. 27, with a 1:00 tilt to follow on Saturday, Jan. 28.