Nov. 25, 2006

Box Score

Durham, NH - Mercyhurst got 30 saves from junior Laura Hosier and staked its claim to its first-ever #1 ranking Saturday night with a scintillating 2-1 won over New Hampshire to capture the annual UNH Tournament.. The victory ended the Wildcats' home unbeaten streak at 32 games. The Lakers concluded a six-game road trip at 5-1 and improved to 12-1-1 on the season. UNH dropped to 13-2-1 and 9-1-1 at home. Both teams came into weekend action ranked either second or third in two national polls.

The Lakers, 4-0 winners over #8 Boston College in the tournament's opening game Friday, got the game-winning goal and an assist from freshman forward Meghan Agosta, who was named Tournament MVP. Senior forward Julia Colizza put the Lakers ahead to stay with her 9th goal of the season with just 40 seconds left in the second period. Sophomore forward Valerie Chouinard and Agosta assisted.

Agosta scored what proved to be the game-winner at 6:04 of the third when she parked her 9th of the year behind Wildcats' senior netminder Melissa Bourdon. But the euphoria was short-lived as the Lakers were assessed a minor penalty 29 seconds later and junior winger Jennifer Hitchcock made them pay with her team-leading 11th marker of the season just a dozen seconds into the skater advantage.

But Hosier and her teammates played rock-solid defense thereafter. Mercyhurst killed two more minor penalties in the third and survived another 53 second period when UNH pulled Bourdon for an extra attacker in the last minute.

New Hampshire outshot Mercyhurst 31-21 and converted 1 of 7 power plays. The Lakers were 1 of 3. UNH had outscored 15 prior opponents a combined 64-22 and featured six players with 15-or-more points.

The win avenged a 2-1 loss at New Hampshire last season when the Wildcatgs decided the affair with a goal in the last minute of regulation. The Wildcats still hold a narrow 4-3-1 lead in the all-time series.

In addition to MVP Agosta, who scored shorthanded and added an assist against the Eagles Friday, both Chouinard and Hosier were named to the All-Tournament team. Hosier improved to 12-1-0 on the season and stopped 46 of 47 shots in the two games.

The UNH game took on added significance Saturday after #1 Wisconsin lost to Minnesota-Duluth 2-0 Friday night. The Badgers rebounded to take Saturday's finale 1-0. The new USCHO.com poll will be released Monday while USA Today will unveil its latest rankings on Tuesday.

Mercyhurst will return to the Ice Center next Friday and Saturday to battle #8 Princeton. The Tigers (8-2-2) also fell from the ranks of the unbeaten over the weekend, bowing 6-3 to Dartmouth and 5-0 to Harvard.