(RV) MERCYHURST (14-10-2, 10-5-1 AHA) vs RIT (13-11-0, 9-7-0 AHA)
Friday, Jan. 16 - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 17 - 3 p.m. 
Rochester, N.Y.   
TV: Flo Hockey 
 
The Mercyhurst women's hockey team will face RIT in a series with massive playoff implications. The Lakers are in second place with RIT right behind them. Both of them have 28 points with Mercyhurst's overall record slightly giving them the edge as things stand. Puck drop for game one will take place Friday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. Game two will begin at 3 p.m. the following day. 
 
Previous Results
The Lakers are 14-10-2 this season and 10-5-1 in AHA play. They hosted No. 5/6 Minnesota Duluth in their first series. Game one ended 4-3 in overtime and game two ended 5-3. The second series was on the road at New Hampshire where they swept the Wildcats. Game one ended 3-2 and game two finished in a 4-0 shutout. The Lakers then hosted No. 10 St. Lawrence in a series split. The Lakers picked up their second shutout of the season in game one, 1-0, and dropped game two 3-0. Mercyhurst then played No. 6 Penn State on the road. The Nittany Lions proved to the toughest opponent yet as they took the series 3-0 and 6-1. The Lakers then hosted No. 8/9 UConn. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw in game one. The second game featured seven goals, with the Huskies prevailing 4-3. 
 
Mercyhurst then swept Delaware. The Lakers won the first game 3-2 in OT and blanked the Blue Hens 4-0 in game two. They then swept RMU 5-1 and 7-2, earning a pair of AHA Player of the Week nominations in the process. The Lakers then split their series with RIT at home as both games ended 1-0. At Syracuse, game one ended in a 2-2 tie where the Orange took the shootout. The Lakers edged them in game two, 3-2. Over Thanksgiving, Mercyhurst traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to compete in the Smashville Showcase. They beat Stonehill 6-1 in Michael Sisti's 600th career win. They fell 5-1 to No. 1 Wisconsin in their second game. In the beginning of December, the Lakers split a series with Lindenwood. They took game one with a commanding, 10-1 victory before falling 5-2 in game two. The Lakers began 2026 with a series sweep over Lindenwood. They won 5-1 in game one and Abby Poitras scored with 1.6 seconds left on the clock in overtime to secure a 2-1 victory in game two. 
 
Most recently, Mercyhurst split their series with No. 4 Penn State. The Nittany Lions took game one 3-0. In game two, the Lakers scored three powerplay goals and took PSU to OT. Payten Evans scored the game-winning goal to secure the upset. 
 
Matchup History
Mercyhurst is ahead of the series by a large margin. The all-time record is 46-9-2. The first series took place in the 2012-13 season when the Lakers won game one 6-1 and game two 7-0 both on the road. They swept the next series that season and did not lose their first game against the Tigers until Nov. 22, 2023, in a 2-1 loss. The Lakers are 21-3-2 on the road against the Tigers and 6-3-1 in their last 10 overall matchups. They have scored 203 goals on the Tigers and are averaging 3.56 goals in each game. Both team are tied in the conference with 28 points. When they played each other in November, they split the series with a 1-0 result in each game.
 
Lakers to Look Out for
Julia Perjus leads the Laker's goals and points column with 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points. Perjus has two multi-goal games this season, a .543 faceoff win percentage, and has the second-highest net rating on the team with +8. The Stockholm native scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win against No. 10 St. Lawrence in the Laker's second home series. She also netted two goals against Delaware and one against RMU. Perjus had a three-point game against Stonehill, scoring one and assisting two others. She also had a five-point weekend against Lindenwood in December. She recorded a career-high four assists in game one and netted a powerplay goal in game two. She earned AHA Rookie of the Week and Month honors for this performance. Most recently, Perjus scored a game-tying powerplay goal in the dying minute of play against No. 4 Penn State to force overtime. 
 
Julia Schalin is another forward who has been on an impressive run of form with 8 goals and a team-high 16 assists for 24 points. Schalin had a league-high five points against RMU, scoring 2 goals and registering three assists. The reigning AHA Rookie of the Year earned her first AHA Forward of the Year award after that performance. The Espoo, Finland native also scored two goals in a 2-2 matchup against Syracuse in November. Schalin recorded a hat trick of assists in the team's 6-1 win over Stonehill. She then had a five-point weekend against Lindenwood at home. This featured a hat trick and an assist in game one and another assist in game two. This was her second career hat trick, and she was named AHA Forward of the Week for this performance. Schalin recorded a hat trick of assists in the team's 5-1 win on the road at Lindenwood in December. Her star performances with the Lakers have played a massive role in her recent selection on the Finland Olympic Team for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. 
 
Defensively, Poitras and Evans have been all over the ice. Poitras recorded four assists in the series against RMU, and her nine total assists are sixth on the team. The Whitby, Ontario native also has a team-high 50 blocks, which is 11th in the nation. Poitras also netted the game-winning goal in the Laker's 2-1 overtime win at Lindenwood. 
 
Evans had a great series against Lindenwood when the two sides played in Erie in December. The Calgary, Alberta native scored a powerplay goal and registered a hat trick of assists in the 10-1 win in game one. She also scored and assisted in game two. For these efforts, Evans was named the AHA Defenseman of the Month for December. Most recently, Evans scored the game-winning goal in overtime to secure a 4-3 upset victory over No. 4 Penn State. This goal and her eight blocks on the weekend led to her being named AHA Defenseman of the Week. Her 38 blocks are second on the team. 
 
Maja Alenius and Holly VanNetten are two freshman defenders who have contributed to the Laker's success as of late. VanNetten was named the AHA Defender of the Week in November after assisting the game-winning goal in overtime against Delaware and recording a multi-point game in the 4-0 win in game two. The Simcoe, Ontario native has 2 goals and 4 assists for six points this season. Alenius has two goals and is fifth on the team with ten assists. Two of those assists came in the 4-3 OT win over No. 4 Penn State. 
 
Magdalena Luggin started between the pipes against No. 5/6 Minnesota Duluth and recorded a then career-high 47 saves in the first game and another 28 saves in the second game. Luggin was the winning netminder in game one of the New Hampshire series. The Austrian native then posted 25 saves and a shutout victory against No. 10 St. Lawrence, which led to her being named the AHA Goaltender of the Week. 
 
Luggin made 37 saves in a 1-1 draw against No. 8/9 UConn and 30 saves in the 4-3 loss. She recorded a league-high 59 saves against RMU. This helped her earn her second AHA Goaltender of the Week award. A few weeks ago, she made 24 saves and recorded her second shutout of the season in the Laker's 1-0 win against RIT. After Thanksgiving, she registered a career-high 56 saves against No. 1 Wisconsin. 
 
Tara Bach has proven to be another strong netminder for the Lakers. Bach started in both games against Lindenwood last weekend. She only allowed two total goals, recorded 41 saves, and was named the AHA Goaltender of the Week for her efforts. Bach is now 4-1-0 on the season and has won in her last three starts. She has 1.08 goals allowed average and a .946 save percentage. Off campus, she has been competing with the German U18 National Team as well.   
 
Scouting RIT 

• The Tigers opened their season by sweeping Post 2-0 and 8-1 at home. 
• They then lost on the road to No. 14 Northwestern. 
• They split a series with Robert Morris by losing 2-1 (OT) and then winning 5-1. 
• They hosted No. 12 St. Lawrence on Oct. 16 and 17. They beat the Saints 4-1 in game two, one of their most impressive victories. 
• After that, they split with Syracuse and Lindenwood. 
• RIT then played on the road at No. 13 Colgate. After falling 5-2 in game one, they won game two 3-1, another notable victory. 
• They split with the Lakers in November, 1-0 in each game. 
• No. 4 Penn State swept them before they split with RMU by losing 5-1 and winning 6-3. 
• The Tigers are now undefeated in their last four games, defeating Delaware in each game. They outscored the Blue Hens 20-7 in that span. 
• Addie Alvarez (9G, 16A, 25 PTS) and Emma Pickering (9G, 15A, 24 PTS, 67 BLKs) lead the Tigers in goals, assists, points, and blocks.