Feb. 24, 2006

Box Score

Ithaca, N.Y. - #7 Mercyhurst spotted Cornell an early lead before rebounding for a 5-2 win Friday night. The Lakers improved to 19-7-5 overall while the Big Red fell to 9-18-0.

Despite outshooting Cornell 19-3 in the first period, the game was deadlocked 1-1 after twenty minutes. Senior forward Vicki Hodgkinson put the Big Red ahead when she scored her seventh goal of the season on a power play at 9:29. But the Lakers knotted the contest on junior defender Ashley Pendleton's 10th lamplighter, an even strength goal, at 10:53.

The Lakers then strung three goals together in the middle period to expand their lead to 4-1. Freshman defender Natalie Payne collected her second of the year at 3:12, senior forward Samantha Shirley followed with her 8th just 20 seconds later, and sophomore winger Stephanie Jones notched her 8th, on a power play at 16:40, to give the Lakers some breathing room. Cornell tightened things in the last minute of the period when freshman Emma Chipman scored her seventh of the year with the Big Red up a skater. Mercyhurst outshot Cornell 14-7 in the second frame.

Junior Jill Nugent finished Cornell and the scoring with a power play score, her fourth of the year, at 3:39 of the third. The Lakers owned a 12-6 advantage in shots in the third and a 45-16 margin for the game.

Sophomore Laura Hosier benefited from the Lakers' most productive game in nearly a month and improved to 12-7-5. Junior Beth Baronick, the current ECAC goalie of the week, suffered the loss as her record slipped to 5-11-0.

Mercyhurst will look for its fifth successive 20-win season and sixth in seven years when it tangles with Cornell again Saturday afternoon at 2:00pm.