No. 12/12 MERCYHURST (21-10-3, 17-5-2 AHA) vs LINDENWOOD (14-19-2, 11-12-1 AHA)
Friday, Feb. 27 - 3 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 28 - 1 p.m. 
Sunday, March 1 - 1 p.m. (If needed)
Erie, PA   
TV: Flo Hockey (All three games) 
 
*Friday's contest will be on Flo's FAST channel, where viewers will be able to watch on the following platforms: Amazon Prime (US), Bell Fibe TV (Canada), Fubo (US and Canada), and YouTube.
 
The Mercyhurst women's hockey team made the AHA semifinals for the ninth consecutive year and this is their fourth consecutive year hosting. They just received a No. 12 ranking in both the USCHO and USA Hockey polls, their highest rank this season. The red-hot Lakers have won 10 of their last 12 games. Their only loss in that span falling to the hands of the then No. 4/4 Penn State, who they beat 4-3 in OT the following day. 

The Lakers host Lindenwood this weekend, who reached the semifinals as the three seed. This is the highest seed the Lions have ever had. Puck drop for game one is set for 3 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Game two has a 1 p.m. puck drop and so does Sunday, if needed. Viewers can find live coverage on Flo Hockey for all three games. 
 
2025-26 Laker Stat Lines

• The Lakers were recently ranked 12th in the nation, their highest ranking this season.
•  They are 21-10-3 overall and 17-5-2 in the AHA. 
• They're also 18-4-2 since the start of November and 10-1-1 since Jan 1. 
• They secured their 21st 20-win season and their 25th season with a winning record in their 27-year history. 
• Mike Sisti has been behind the bench the whole time, securing his 600th career win in November in a 6-1 win vs. Stonehill. 
• Statistically, the Lakers are among the best. 
• Here are their national rankings in the top categories: .299 powerplay percentage (3rd in nation, 1st AHA), 32 powerplay goals (4th nationally), 110 goals (7^th in nation), .869 penalty kill percentage (5^th in nation, 1st in AHA), 307 team points (6^th nationally), and in combined special teams they are 2^nd in the country behind No. 1/1 Wisconsin. 
• The Lakers have secured 23 AHA Weekly/Monthly awards. 
• Mercyhurst has spread the wealth in terms of offensive contributions as well. 
• They have had five or more goalscorers in eight-different games. 
• 13 players have two-figure point tallies and the 14 new players have 144 out of the 307 total points. 
• Julia Perjus (15G, 21A, 36 PTS) currently is sixth in the nation among all freshman in points and she leads the team. 
• Sofia Nuutinen (10G, 22A, 32 PTS), Julia Schalin (9G, 21A, 30 PTS), Payten Evans (8G, 11A, 19 PTS, 54 BLKS) and Abby Poitras (4G, 11A, 15 PTS, 62 BLKS) are among the Laker's top contributors. 
• Schalin also recorded an assist against Czechia in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. 

Season Results
The Lakers are 21-10-3 this season and 17-5-2 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. Mercyhurst then 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. The Lakers then swept RIT in a series between No. 2 and No. 3 in the AHA. They won 5-3 in game one and Poitras scored her second OT winner of the month in the 2-1 win in game two. This was the third consecutive series where a Laker blueliner has scored an game-winner in OT of game two. Mercyhurst swept RMU at home 5-1 in each game before they swept Delaware for their sixth and seventh-straight win. 
 
Most recently, MU tied Syracuse 2-2 and then beat them 7-0 in their regular-season finale. The Lakers are unbeaten in their last nine games heading into the playoffs. 
 
Matchup History
Mercyhurst is ahead of the series by a large margin. Their overall record is 49-10-1 against Lindenwood all-time. The first series took place in Missouri in October of 2011, where the Lakers outscored the Lions 21-1 across both games. MU won the first 11 matchups before a 2-2 draw on Feb. 22, 2014. The first win Lindenwood came on Feb. 20, 2015, in a 3-1 home victory. This season, the two teams split in December in Erie. The Lakers won game one, 10-1 and lost game two, 5-2. This was Lindenwood's first-ever win at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. In January, the Lakers swept the Lions 5-1 in game one and 2-1 in OT to finish the series. Mercyhurst us averaging 4.3 goals per game against Lindenwood all-time and is 27-1-1 at home against them. This is just the second time the two teams have ever played in the playoffs. The first time was in 2017, where Lindenwood won 3-2 in a one-off game. The Lions are 2-17 in the postseason, with their first win against Mercyhurst and other one last weekend vs. RMU. At home, Mercyhurst is The Lakers are 35-13 in conference postseason with 13 championships in the CHA/AHA. They have additional conference titles in the GLWHA. 
 
Lakers to Look Out for
Perjus (15G, 21A, 36 PTS) leads the Laker's goal column. Perjus has two multi-goal games this season, nine multi-point games, a .560 faceoff win percentage, and has the fourth-highest net rating on the team with +11. The Stockholm native scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win against No. 10 St. Lawrence in the Laker's second home series. 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. Last month, Perjus scored a game-tying powerplay goal in the dying minute of play against No. 4 Penn State to force overtime. She had three points in a series sweep vs. RMU and then another big showing against Delaware, featuring a goal and a hat trick of assists. Perjus was then named the AHA Rookie of the Month for the second consecutive month. Most recently, she recorded another three-assist game in the team's 7-0 rout of Syracuse. 
 
Sofia Nuutinen (10G, 22A, 32 PTS) is on a hot streak as well. She leads the team in assists (22) and is second on points (32). Since Jan. 1, Nuutinen has six goals and 11 assists for 17 points. This includes six multi-point games. Notably, Nuuts assisted the then game-tying powerplay goal with just over a minute remaining against No. 4/4 Penn State. 
 
Schalin (9G, 21A, 30 PTS) is back from the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. The Reigning AHA Rookie of the Year has had a tremendous sophomore campaign. She is third on the team in points, despite missing four games due to the Olympics. She recorded her first assist in the team's win vs. Czechia.   
 
Defensively, Poitras and Evans have been all over the ice. Poitras recorded four assists in the series against RMU, and her 11 total assists are seventh on the team. The Whitby, Ontario native also has a team-high 62 blocks. Poitras netted the game-winning goal in the Laker's 2-1 overtime win at Lindenwood with 1.6 seconds on the clock. Last month, she netted the game-winning goal in the 2-1 win at RIT to earn AHA Defenseman of the Week honors. She has four game-winning goals since Jan. 1. 
 
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. Evans also 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. Evans (8G, 11A, 19 PTS, 54 BLKS) is second on the team in blocks and leads all Laker blueliners in points. She is actually fifth on the team in points. 
 
Maja Alenius and Holly VanNetten are two freshman defenders who have contributed to the Laker's success this season. 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. She had a three-point weekend at Delaware and recently had a three-point weekend against Syracuse where she was named AHA Rookie of the Week. The Simcoe, Ontario native has six goals and nine assists for 15 points this season. Alenius has three goals and is fifth on the team with 14 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. 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 new career-high 56 saves against No. 1 Wisconsin. Luggin was named AHA Goaltender of the Week after she made 41 saves in the series sweep over RIT. She was then named AHA GOTW again after posting 54 saves and a 1.000 goals allowed average throughout the Laker's sweep of RMU. She picked up her first Goaltender of the Month for January. She has a 2.16 goals allowed average and a save percentage of .926. 
 
Tara Bach has proven to be another strong netminder for the Lakers. Bach started in both games at Lindenwood. She only allowed two total goals, recorded 41 saves, and was named the AHA Goaltender of the Week for her efforts. Bach is now 6-1-0 on the season after making 31 saves and recording a shutout in a 7-0 win vs. Syracuse. She has a 0.90 goals allowed average and a .955 save percentage. 

Off campus, she has been competing with the German U18 National Team. Bach was recently named the Goaltender of the Tournament at the U18 IIHF World Championship. Here, she posted a 5-1-0 record, 0.99 goals allowed average, .947 save percentage, and made 91 saves. This helped promote the Germany U18 team to the highest division of play alongside big teams such as the U.S. and Canada. 
 
Lindenwood Quick Hits

• The Lions 14-19-2 overall and 11-12-1 in the AHA. 
• Recently, they hosted a playoff game for the first time and beat Robert Morris, 3-1. 
• Their recent run of form helped their playoff push tremendously. 
• They swept Delaware, split with Syracuse, and swept RIT and RMU all in the past two months. 
• The Lions are 2-17 in the playoffs all-time. Their first win was vs. Mercyhurst in 2017.
• Molly Henderson (16G, 15A, 31 PTS), Tatiana Blichova (15G, 15A, 30 PTS), Zsofia Pazmandi (16G, 13A, 29 PTS), and Josey Dune-Weeks (4G, 13A, 17 PTS, 72 BLKs) lead the team in goals, assists, points, and blocks.