Women's Ice Hockey | 3/8/2018 3:00:00 PM
POTSDAM, N.Y. -- The Mercyhurst women's ice hockey team plays in their 12th NCAA Tournament in program history, beginning with Saturday's matchup against top-ranked Clarkson in the quarterfinal round of the National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament.
PLACE: Cheel Arena, Clarkson University, Potsdam, N.Y.
DATE: March 10
TIME: 2:00 p.m.
WATCH: CLARKSON LIVE STREAM
LISTEN: CLARKSON RADIO
STATISTICS: LIVE STATS
SOCIAL MEDIA: MERCYHURST ATHLETICS TWITTER |
MERCYHURST WOMEN'S HOCKEY TWITTER
SETTING THE SCENE
This NCAA Quarterfinal matchup is the 37th game of the season for Mercyhurst and is the 17th NCAA postseason game for the Lakers in program history (5-11).
LAST TIME THEY MET
Mercyhurst and Clarkson last faced off with each other in the 2014 Frozen Four semifinals on March 21, 2014. The Golden Knights came out on top 5-1, scoring five-unanswered goals after Mercyhurst's Jaclyn Arbour scored the game's first goal at 8:02 in the first period.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Mercyhurst leads the all-time series against Clarkson 8-5-4. The Lakers have outscored the Golden Knights 34-27 combined in those 17 matchups. This game marks just the second these two have faced off in the NCAA postseason (2014). In eight all-time matchups at Cheel Arena, Mercyhurst is 3-3-2 while averaging 2.37 goals per game.
COMMON OPPONENTS
Mercyhurst and Clarkson have played several of the same opponents in 2017-18. Those opponents include Bemidji State, St. Lawrence, Penn State, Syracuse, RPI, and Colgate. Mercyhurst is 7-6-4 in its games against that list this season while Clarkson is 15-1. When playing at Colgate, the only other NCAA Tournament finalist from that list, Mercyhurst lost both games in very close fashion. Mercyhurst dropped the first game on Oct. 20 4-3 in the last second of OT and were tied 1-1 late in the third period in game two before losing 4-1.
GREAT MOMENTS ARE BORN FROM GREAT OPPORTUNITY
Mercyhurst had five different players record single-game career highs in the CHA Championship game last Saturday.
Emma Nuutinen scored a career-high three points (2G, 1A), including the game winner.
Vilma Tanskanen had a career-high three assists, also tying her three-point high. Freshman
Alexa Vasko notched her first career goal and an assist to set a two-point high mark, while fellow freshman
Rachel Marmen tied her two-point career high with a goal and assist of her own.
BLUE LINE, BACK, RED LINE, BACK
Mercyhurst had 17 points produced by its forwards in two games in the CHA Tournament while its defense chipped in five points.
Rachel Marmen led the blue-line group with two points (1G, 1A). When Mercyhurst has a defenseman score a goal in a game this season, the Lakers are 6-3-2.
I'M PLAYING O.A.R. NINE DAYS BEFORE THE CHA TOURNAMENT?
Emma Nuutinen came back to the Mercyhurst lineup in a big way for Mercyhurst's CHA Tournament run, scoring the game-winning goals to down both Syracuse and Robert Morris. Nuutinen had missed the previous six games for Mercyhurst while with Team Finland at the 2018 Winter Olympics where she won a bronze medal in a 3-2 win over the Olympic Athletes from Russia. Nuutinen now has points in eight of her last ten games with the Lakers. She has three career playoff winning goals, including two scored in OT.
IF YOU SCORE ON HER, KEEP THE PUCK. IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OFTEN
Kennedy Blair posted a 0.92 goals against average in 11 CHA games this season to earn the CHA Goaltenders' Trophy. The last time a CHA goalie had a sub-1.00 GAA to win the CHA Goaltender Trophy was Mercyhurst's Desirae Clark in 2004-05 when she had a 0.65 GAA in 8 games. Blair's final four wins of the season were all shutouts and her five clean sheets are the most by a Mercyhurst goaltender since 2014-15 when Amanda Makela had eight.
THE LEGS FEED THE WOLF
Mercyhurst outscored its opponents 35-22 in the 2nd period and 30-22 in the 3rd period this season compared to being outscored 23-27 in the first period.
AGAIN!
Mercyhurst remains unbeaten this season when leading after two periods of play (15-0-1). The Lakers also improved to 13-1 when scoring a power-play goal and 5-0 when scoring two or more power-play markers.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Top-ranked Clarkson is the defending national champion and the 2018 regular season and postseason champions of the ECAC. The Golden Knights currently hold the longest unbeaten streak (7) in the country.
Clarkson ranks in the top five nationally in several team statistical categories, including scoring offense (4th, 4.19), scoring defense (2nd, 1.21), scoring margin (2nd, 2.82), power-play efficiency (4th, 25.5%), and penalty-kill percentage (3rd, 90.1%).
The Golden Knights swept the individual league awards for the ECAC. Jr. Loren Gabel (73 pts) was Best Forward and Player of the Year. Sr. Savannah Harmon (32 pts, +51) was named Best Defenseman. Fr. Elizabeth Giguere (68 pts) was Rookie of the Year. Sr. Shea Tiley (32-4-1, 1.26 GAA) was named Goaltender of the Year.
Clarkson's top line of Gabel, Giguere, and So. Michaela Pejzolva (52 pts) have combined to score 85 goals and 108 assists for 193 points.
