Womens hockey sweeps Syracuse 2-0

Womens+hockey+sweeps+Syracuse+2-0

Annie Markel, Staff writer

The Mercyhurst Women’s ice hockey team, now in the middle of their season, has seen equal parts win and loss. The Lakers were teetering on the edge of a 4-4-1 record prior to this past weekend.

Traveling to Syracuse to face the Orange in a two game match-up on both Saturday and Sunday, the Lakers were able to tip the scale in a positive direction for the season by securing both victories.

“They play a fast physical style of play and I expect a very com-petitive game,” said head coach Michael Sisti. “We are trying to improve our special teams and gain confidence as a team with each game we play.”

The Lakers were coming off an-other win just days prior on Feb. 2 against Robert Morris Universi-ty. The team was able to outscore the Colonials and achieve a 4-2 win against them.

The first game against Syracuse on Friday resulted in a 5-2 win for the Lakers.

The first period saw freshman forward Chantel Ste-Croix score assisted by freshman forward Jer-sey Phillips and junior forward Liliane Perreault.

Junior forward Emily Pinto scored her second goal of the sea-son in the second period assisted by both senior forward Megan Korzack and freshman forward Sara Boucher.

Pinto would be on the board again with another third period goal assisted by K.K. Thiessen.

Junior forward Grace Nelles picked up her second goal of the season in the third period. Fresh-man Calista Rowbottom also was able to obtain her first career point in the third.

Sophomore goalie Ena Nystrom blocked a total of 43 out of 45 shots from the Orange through-out the game, making it a new season high for the Laker goalten-der this year.

The second game was even more intense, with a buzzer beater score of 2-1 to finish. Unlike the first game, Saturday saw no goals from either team throughout both the first and second periods.

The Lakers were finally able to produce two goals in the third pe-riod, both by freshman forward Sara Boucher.

The first goal was assisted by senior forwards Alexa Vasko and Summer-Rae Dobson. The sec-ond goal was assisted by senior forward Megan Korzak and junior forward Emily Pinto.

Ena Nystrom continued her impressive performance into the second game with a total of 34 saves. The game was her third straight start of the season.

“We are happy our players have a chance to have a season. There were so many unknowns for them through the summer and in early fall,” said Sisti. “When our season ended in March as we were board-ing the bus for a trip to Cornell for the NCAA Tourney, everyone wondered when we would play again. Just having a chance to play is a blessing.”