Erie, PA—After sweeping the Lindenwood Lions last weekend the Mercyhurst Women's Hockey team will be back on the ice to close out the regular this weekend against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
PLAYOFFS?! TALKING ABOUT PLAYOFFS?
The Lakers currently sit in third place of the CHA standings. Penn State has clinched the regular season conference championship and a first round bye in the CHA Playoffs. Mercyhurst can still jump into the second position or they can fall to the fourth spot. In order to fall to the fourth position, Syracuse would need to win its final two game against Robert Morris and the Lakers would need to lose both games to Penn State. If they Lakers want to secure a first round bye, they need to win both games and have Syracuse and Robert Morris split their series or have Robert Morris lose both games, while Mercyhurst would need at least one win this weekend.
Laker Overview
Mercyhurst is coming off a three game sweep of Lindenwood winning by scores of 6-1, 4-2, and 3-1. In the series opener the Lakers set a new season high for goals scoring six for the first time this season. Multiple Lakers had multi-point afternoons including K.K. Thiessen, Summer-Rae Dobson, Sara Boucher, and Rachel Marmen. In this game, it was an internal battle of the classes as the freshman class was able to tally three goals with Grace Nelles, Chantal St-Croix and Boucher each netting goals and combining for five points. The senior class received goals from Thiessen, Dobson, and Marmen while tallying a total of 10 points.
The Lakers followed up their 6-2 win with a 4-2 win over the Lions. Boucher was able to add to her successful first collegiate year by scoring her first career hat-trick. Emily Pinto would score the other Laker goal as Alexa Vasko was able to tally three assists while four other Lakers contributed points.
After having a day off the Lakers and Lions met for the final time of the weekend, the Lakers were able to win by a score of 3-1. Alexandria Wiess, Marmen, and Pinto each scored for the Lakers while the team generated a total of 30 shots in the win.
Up Front
Mercyhurst has seen great production from the forward group this season, they have been able tally 38 goals for the Lakers this season. Boucher has led the way for the way for the Lakers by tallying 11 goals and 17 assists in her rookie season. Vasko has been able to tally 11 points in her senior season while Pinto and Megan Korzack have added 10 points each.
On the Blueline
Both Marmen and Thiessen had big weekends as the seniors combined for nine points this weekend. On the season Marmen leads the defense core with three goals and 10 points. Thiessen isn't far behind as she has one goal and is tied for the team lead in assists with eight. The defense core for the Lakers have blocked a total of 104 shots this season with Marmen having a team high 33.
The Last Line of Defense
Both Jenna Silvonen and Ena Nystrøm earned wins in net this weekend. Silvonen and Nystrøm have both appeared in eight games this season. Silvonen has a 5-2-1 record this season while posting a 1.74 goals-against-average and a .921 save percentage. Nystrøm has came to Mercyhurst and has been able to post a 4-3-0 record and earned a .941 save percentage and a 1.84 goals-against average. Mercyhurst is the only team in the country to have two goals in the top 25 for save percentage and just one of three teams to have two goalies in the top 20 for goals-against-average.
Scouting Penn State
The Nittany Lions come into the weekend being ranked 8th in the country in both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today poll. Penn State was able to capture their first regular season CHA Championship on February 19th in a 5-0 win over the RIT Tigers. The Nittany Lions are currently on the second longest unbeaten streak in the country as they outscored their opponents 50-13 in the 12 games and have not allowed more than two goals in any of those games.
The Nittany Lions have been led by freshman Kiara Zanon who has scored a total of 27 points this season, that includes eight goals in her freshman season, she is second in the nation in points and leads all freshman. Sophomore Julie Gough leads Penn State with 10 goals this season while also having seven assists. Senior Natalie Heising is second on the team in points with 20, which includes seven goals and 13 assists.
Josie Bothun has been a main stay in net for the Blue and White playing all but 20 minutes this season. Bothun has posted a .951 save percentage and a 1.23 goals-against-average. The Nittany Lions have allowed the least amount of goals in the CHA this season despite playing the most games, while also scoring the most goals in the CHA.
Up Next
All CHA teams will come to Erie for the CHA Tournament which will start on March 4th at the Erie Insurance Arena with a champion being crowned on March 6th.
