ERIE, Pa.— The Mercyhurst Women's Hockey team celebrated their eight senior and fifth-year players on Saturday afternoon's senior day but fell to visiting Syracuse by a score of 4-1. The game closed out the Lakers home schedule for the year and split the season series between the two sides.
 
How it Happened
 
The Lakers appeared to have an early advantage, heading to the power play just three minutes in but were stymied by the Orange penalty kill. Feeding off of that momentum the visitors struck first when Tatum White collected a bouncing puck and scored at the 11:21 mark in the first.
 
It was only fitting that Mercyhurst turned to one of their most experienced players on senior day when searching for an equalizer as the first period closed out. Kristy Pidgeon took a long pass from Sydney Pedersen and fired a wrister that snuck inside the near post to tie things at one with three minutes on the clock. For Pidgeon it was her 10^th tally of the year and the score remained tied 1-1 heading to the first intermission.
 
The second period was an even battle in the early stages with Ena Nystrom making some big saves for her team less than two minutes into the frame. 
 
The Laker penalty kill got the chance to flex its muscles following a call against Pidgeon at the 7:17 mark. Shorthanded, Mercyhurst had one of their best opportunities of the game when Liliane Perreault shook free for a breakaway chance. Syracuse goaltender Arielle DeSmet just barely got enough of the shot attempt to keep the score tied at one.
 
The Orange broke the deadlock 13:46 into the second period via Anna Leschysyn. A scoreless six minutes followed giving Syracuse a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
 
The Cuse got an insurance goal in the opening moments of the third from Madison Primeau, and then an empty netter in the waning moments led to the final score of 4-1. Mercyhurst outshot the Orange on the day 34-31. Nystrom made 27 stops in net for the Lakers, including 15 in the second period.
 
Coming Down the Homestretch
 
With the win on Sunday the Orange clinched the regular season CHA title and will play host for the CHA Tournament on February 24-26. Mercyhurst's postseason seeding will still be up in the air as they head into the final weekend of the season.
 
The Lakers will travel to St. Louis next weekend to take on Lindenwood for a pair of contests. Coming into the weekend Mercyhurst was tied with Penn State for second in the CHA. The Nittany Lions had the week off from conference play but will take on RIT next weekend. The Lakers seed heading into the CHA Tournament can be no worse than three.