The Mercyhurst Women's Ice Hockey team will begin CHA conference play this week at home against the Penn State Nittany Lions, game one on Friday will begin at 6:05 p.m while the second contest is set for a 2:05 p.m puck drop on Saturday. The Lakers will enter the pair of games with an extra boost of confidence as they are receiving votes in each of the latest versions of the USCHO.com and USA Today polls.
The Matchup
The Mercyhurst and Penn State Women's Hockey programs have played one another 37 times in their all-time series. The Lakers hold a 21-7-9 record over the Nittany Lions while scoring 113 goals compared to Penn State's 57. Most recently, the Lakers defeated Penn State 3-2 in overtime last February, senior
Emily Pinto scored the overtime game-winner for Mercyhurst in that one.
Laker Overview
The Lakers are coming off a series with No. 10 Cornell in which they split. In the first game, the teams traded goals in the first period and remained tied 1-1 going into the final period. Lilliane Perreault scored 29 seconds into the third period to give Mercyhurst the 2-1 lead, however Cornell responded tying the game at two goals a piece. Moments later,
Sara Boucher received a pass from
Sydney Pedersen and fired a wrister past Cornell's keeper for the eventual game-winning goal.
In the second game of the series, Cornell topped the Lakers by a score of 4-0 in a game that played closer than the score showed.
Mercyhurst remains at the top of the College Hockey America Standings with their 7-3-1 record.
Up Front
The Mercyhurst Forwards have accounted for every Laker goal so far this season besides for one that was scored by forward turned defensemen
Jersey Phillips. Freshman
Vanessa Upson leads the group in scoring, she has a team leading seven goals along with six assists to pace the Mercyhurst attack. Right behind Upson in goals are a pair of graduate students,
Kristy Pidgeon and
Alexa Vasko. Both Pidgeon and Vasko have put the puck in the net five times this season.
Liliane Perreault currently paces the teams in assists, her eight assists combined with two goals are good enough for a tie in second on the team in points.
On The Blueline
The Mercyhurst defensive core has been solid in terms of their defensive nature. They have only allowed two goals per game, they have also held opponents to just under 22 shots per game. Freshman
Sydney Pedersen has led the defenseman in scoring early on, she has five assists including one on Boucher's game-winning goal last Friday. K.K Thiessen continues to lead the group in +/- with a +8 rating and
Alexane Rheaume remains as the team leader in blocked shots with 18.
The Last Line of Defense
Ena Nystrøm continued her hot streak in goal as she saved a season high 31 shots in Friday's 3-2 victory over the Cornell Big Red, Nystrøm received CHA Goalie of the Week honors this past Monday for the second consecutive week for her performance on Friday.
Jenna Silvonen has continued to split time in net with Nystrøm, the junior has amassed a 3-2-1 record in six starts while posting a .908 save percentage for the Lakers.
Where They Rank
Mercyhurst continues its dominance on top of the CHA season statistical leaderboards. Upson remains as the conference leader in goals (7) and points (13). Perreault sits at the top of the assist leaderboard with eight helpers through 11 games. The team has scored often and has not given up much scoring when senior forward
Emily Pinto has been on the ice, she leads the CHA with a +/- rating of +9. Turning to the goalkeeping statistics, Nystøm leads the conference in GAA with 1.69 and save percentage at .934 %.
Scouting Penn State
Last year, Penn State finished with a 16-3-2 record and the CHA regular season crown, however they ultimately fell in the Semifinals of the CHA Postseason tournament to Syracuse. This season, the Nittany Lions roll into Erie with a 3-3-2 record, they have wins over Holy Cross and Brown University to kick off their 2021-22 campaign. Natalie Heising and the reigning CHA Player of the Year Kiara Zanon lead the team in scoring to begin the season. Heising has eight points on six goals and two assists while Zanon has eight on three goals and five assists.
Up Next
After the two-game series with Penn State the Lakers will take next weekend off. They will return to action the following Friday and Saturday at the Mercyhurst Ice Center for a matchup with St. Lawrence University.
