Feb. 17, 2007

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - #1 Mercyhurst paid respects to seven seniors before the game and then went out and defeated College Hockey America-rival Wayne State 4-2 Saturday afternoon to sweep the weekend series. The Lakers improved to 29-1-2 overall and remained perfect in the conference at 10-0-0. The Warriors fell to 12-17-1 and 4-6-0.

It took over 13 minutes before Mercyhurst junior Stephanie Jones beat WSU goalie Valery Turcotte from right in front. Jones got help from linemates Valerie Chouinard and Meghan Agosta in registering her 14th goal of the season.

The Lakers increased the lead to 2-0 eight minutes into the middle period when Freshman forward Agosta lit the lamp for her team-record 33rd time this season. Senior defender Ashley Pendleton helped.

Wayne State got back into the game just 27 seconds into the third when Tegan Schroeder beat Mercyhurst junior Laura Hosier from in close during a 4-on-3 situation. Mercyhurst freshman Angelica Lorsell restored the two-goal lead five minutes later when she cashed her 7th of the season, a power play goal, from Agosta and sophomore defender Natalie Payne. But the Warriors retaliated in unexpected fashion as Brandi Frakie scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 14:36 to draw WSU within a goal at 3-2. It was the first shorthanded goal allowed by the Lakers this season and the first since Niagara turned the trick in the CHA Championship contest last March in Detroit. But Pendleton picked up her second point of the game and ended the scoring with her 6th of the year at 16:17. Lorsell and sophomore Melissa Dianoski helped.

Mercyhurst outshot Wayne State 38-23 and improved to 30-0-2 lifetime against the Detroit team. The Lakers are now unbeaten in their last 35 conference games (32-0-3). Mercyhurst was 1 of 7 on the power play while Wayne State ended 1 of 9.

Hosier picked up her 24th win of the season and 50th of her career. She is second in both categories to Desirae Clark, who had 26 and 63 respectively. Agosta's three points give her 63 this season, tying the prior mark held by C.J. Ireland in 1999-2000, the first year of the program. The Lakers 29 wins also represent a new one-season high, surpassing the 28 victories in 2004-05.

Before the game, the Lakers paid tribute to seniors Michelle Bonello, Jill Nugent, Julia Colizza, Sarah Kurth, Lesley McArthur, Stefanie Bourbeau, and Ashley Pendleton. Their combined four-year record through Saturday is 106-22-14. Colizza and Pendleton have never missed a game in their careers. Colizza is second all-time in assists and fourth in points. Bourbeau is first all-time in goals, first in game-winning goals, tied for first in power play goals, and second in points. Colizza also picked up the Bill Smith Award, given each year to a senior player in memory of the former Mercyhurst employee who founded the hockey team's Booster Club and who died unexpectedly in April of 2001.

Mercyhurst will conclude the regular season next weekend with a pair of conference games at Niagara.