Rochester, N.Y. --- The Mercyhurst University Women's Ice Hockey Team will be back in action this weekend for a pair of CHA Conference games against the Tigers of RIT. The two games will be played at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, Friday's contest is set to begin at 2:00 p.m while Saturday's will begin at 1:00 p.m.
The Matchup
The Mercyhurst and RIT women;s ice hockey programs have faced off 39 times in the team's histories. Mercyhurst has a record of 33-6-0 against the Tigers, the Lakers have a goal differential of +93 in those 39 contests. Most recently, the Lakers defeated RIT 6-3 in the two teams first game of the 2021-22 season.
Laker Overview
Mercyhurst is coming off of a series against St. Lawrence in which they won the first game and tied in the second. In last Friday's match up against the Saints it was
Jordan Mortlock who picked up her first career collegiate goal that jump started the Laker attack.
Kristy Pidgeon secured the win for Mercyhurst when she fired in an empty netter late in the contest as the Lakers prevailed 3-2.
In the second game of the series,
Grace Nelles scored 50 seconds into the game for the Lakers, however that was the extent of their scoring as they went on to tie 1-1 with the Saints.
Up Front
Freshman standout
Vanessa Upson continues to lead the Laker forwards in points despite not scoring in last week's games, the Stoney Creek, ONT. native has 16 points on eights goals and eight assists 15 games into the season.
Sara Boucher along with
Kristy Pidgeon have also paced Mercyhurst's attack, Pidgeon added one goal and one assist to her season totals last week. She is tied with Boucher for second on the team with 12 points (6g,6a). Boucher has started to show why she was an honorable mention for the Preseason All CHA Team. The Sophomore has five goals and seven assists in 15 games for the Lakers
On the Blueline
Mortlock's goal last week gave Mercyhurst's defensive core its third goal of the season. Mortlock joins forward turned defenseman
Jersey Phillips and
Sydney Pedersen as the three Mercyhurst blueliners to find the back of the net this year. Pedersen leads the group in assists as she has seven 15 games into her freshman campaign. Co-Captain
K.K. Thiessen leads the defensive unit in +/- with a rating of +8, good enough for second on the team.
The Last Line of Defense
With Ena Nystrøm away on international duties last week, Jenna Silvonen made her first back-to-back starts of the season last week. The junior from Lohja, Finland played well as she saved 58 of the 61 shots on goal that she faced against the Saints. Silvonen's season record now improves to 4-2-2 and she and the rest of the team welcome back Nystrøm this week. The two will likely continue to split action between the pipes for Head Coach Mike Sisti.
Where They Rank
Upson continues her dominance in the CHA statistical categories as she leads the conference in both goals (8) and points (16).
Liliane Perreault is still at the top of the assists leaderboard as she has had nine helpers for the Lakers this year. Pidgeon and Boucher are currently tied for fourth most points in the conference with 12 points a piece. Upson also currently has the highest total points recorded in a single game this year amongst all skaters in the CHA courtesy of her five-point performance back on October 8th against Franklin Pierce.
Scouting RIT
RIT will enter Friday's contest with an 0-14-0 record, the Tigers closest game of the season came in a 3-2 overtime loss to Syracuse. Lindsay Maloney is the Tigers leading scorer at this point in the season, the sophomore has three goals and three assists including a goal in the Tigers opening game of the year against the Lakers.
Up Next
The Lakers will travel to Nashville Tennessee during Thanksgiving weekend to compete in the Smashville NCAA Women's Hockey Showcase hosted by the Nashville Predators. Mercyhurst will join Colgate, Boston College, and Minnesota as the teams to be competing at the Ford Ice Center. The Lakers will first take on No. 3 Minnesota on day one of the showcase and then either Colgate or Boston College on the second day.
