ERIE, PA --- The Mercyhurst University Women's Hockey will head to Nashville, Tennessee this week to compete in the Smashville NCAA Women's Hockey Showcase on Friday and Saturday.
The Lakers will first suit up at 4:30 PM CT on Friday against No. 3 Minnesota at the Ford Ice Center in Nashville. They will follow Friday's contest by playing either No. 8 Colgate or Boston College on Saturday at 1:30 PM CT or 4:30 PM CT.
The Matchups
Mercyhurst and the University of Minnesota Hockey programs have squared off with each other 11 times in their all-time series. Minnesota has come away victorious in 10 of the 11 games, while the Lakers lone win came in the 2009 Frozen Four by way of a 5-4 margin.
Mercyhurst and Boston College have battled nine times in the program's histories. Mercyhurst has been victorious in six of the nine contests, most recently the Lakers defeated Boston College in their last match up, 3-2, in January of 2013.
Colgate and Mercyhurst played one another in a two-game series earlier in the year. Colgate won both of those games by scores of 5-2 and 4-2, however, the Lakers still hold a 19-10-4 record all-time against the Raiders.
Laker Overview
Last weekend, Mercyhurst was propelled to a series sweep of CHA foe RIT behind a pair of hat-tricks from underclassmen forwards. During Friday's 3-1 win, it was sophomore
Chantal Ste-Croix who scored all three of the team's goals in the third period to give the Lakers their 10th win of the season.
In the teams 6-1 win over the Tigers on Saturday,
Vanessa Upson continued her dominance in the CHA as she scored her first career collegiate hat-trick. She added another point to her score sheet when she assisted on a
Sara Boucher goal. The Lakers overall record now improves to 11-4-2 and 3-1 in CHA play.
Up Front
Upson scored her 9th,10th and 11th goals of the year on Saturday, she continues to lead the CHA in total goals and points. She also continues to lead the Country in freshman goals scored and points.
Liliane Perreault continues to lead the CHA in assists, tacking on three more to her season total last week. The Hinsdale, Ill native now has 12 helpers to go along with two goals in her senior season.
On The Blueline
Freshman
Mary Sweetapple picked up her first collegiate point from the blueline last week, the Centre Burlington N.S. native assisted on one of Upson's three goals in the Lakers win on Saturday.
Sydney Pedersen,
K.K. Thiessen and
Jersey Phillips each joined Sweetapple by picking up assists in the RIT series, for Perdersen, it was her ninth point of the season leading all Laker defensemen.
The Last Line of Defense
Both
Jenna Silvonen and Ena Nystrøm split time in between the pipes for Mercyhurst last weekend. The pair only allowed two goals on the 29 shots that they faced against the Tigers. Silvonen improved her season record to 5-2-2 with a 1.75 GAA and a .922 save percentage. Nystrøm saw her season record move to 6-2-0, she holds a 1.81 GAA while posting a CHA leading .935 save percentage.
Scouting No. 3 Minnesota
Minnesota enters the matchup with Mercyhurst as the #3 ranked team in both the USCHO.com and the USA Today weekly polls. The Golden Gophers have an 11-3-0 record with highlight wins over ranked Colgate and Minnesota Duluth. The team's three losses have all come against ranked opponents early in the season. Taylor Heise currently leads Minnesota on offense, Heise holds a team leading 11 goals and 15 assists to pace their attack.
Scouting Colgate
Colgate brings the #8 ranking with them into Nashville. They currently hold a 13-4-1 record with a 5-2-1 record in ECAC play. The Raiders are led by Danielle Serdachny, Dara Greig, and Kalty Kaltounkova who all have scored 20+ points for Colgate through the teams first 18 games.
Scouting Boston College
The Eagles will enter the Ford Ice Center on Friday holding an 8-5-0 overall record and a 6-4 HEA conference record. The team was receiving votes in the most recent USCHO.com and USA Today polls. Abby Newhook and Hannah Bilka are tied for a team leading 11 points. Newhook has seven goals and four assists while Bilka has four goals and seven assists in the teams 13 games.
Up Next
Up next after the showcase, Mercyhurst will be back on the road as they travel to Syracuse, New York for a two-game series with the Orange. Puck drop for game one on Friday, December 3rd is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
