Nov. 17, 2007

Stats

Potsdam, N.Y. - The Clarkson women's hockey team broke a 1-1 tie by scoring twice in the final stanza to upend No. 2 Mercyhurst, 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Cheel Arena. The Golden Knights, who received votes in the USCHO.com poll, improved to 10-2-2 overall, while the Lakers dropped to 8-2-2.

Clarkson scored first with under a minute to play in the opening period as Katie Morrison made a centering pass to leading scorer Britney Selina, who beat senior goaltender Laura Hosier glove-side. The score would remain 1-0 hosts until the third period.

Freshman forward Jesse Scanzano tied the contest three and a half into the third period on the power play. The goal was assisted by junior forward Valerie Chouinard and junior blueliner Natalie Payne.

Clarkson would take a 3-1 lead three minutes apart, both scores coming on power plays, as Carlee Eusepi scored, followed by a breakaway goal by Marie-Jo Gaudet, who lifted the puck past Hosier. The third goal came just seconds after the first part of a 5-on-3 advantage for the Knights had ended.

After a Laker timeout, senior forward Stephanie Jones cut the deficit to one as she scored at the 10:47 mark, assisted by sophomore forward Meghan Agosta and freshman forward Vicki Bendus.

The Lakers had several chances to tie the contest but were plagued by another 5-on-3 disadvantage with just over two minutes left in regulation.

Mercyhurst outshot Clarkson, 23-22. Clarkson freshman goaltender Eve Gradmont-Berube, who also started Friday's game, made 21 of 23 saves, while Hosier turned aside 19 of 22 Clarkson shots.

The win is the first against the Lakers for Clarkson as Mercyhurst now leads the all-time series, 5-1-2. MC is now 0-1-2 in the last three games against CU with a 3-3 overtime tie in Erie on Oct. 14, 2006, and yesterday's 1-1 deadlock in Potsdam.

The Lakers will try to regroup as they continue their six-game road trip at ECACHL-member Princeton on Nov. 23-24 at 7 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.