After the sweep of conference rivals Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), junior forward, Emily Janiga, and junior goaltender, Julia DiTondo, were awarded with weekly honors for the Collegiate Hockey America (CHA) conference.

Each week, every team from the CHA has a submission from their coaches for one skater and one goaltender to be awarded with player of the week honors. Members from the CHA committee vote to see which players will be awarded these honors. This week, two Mercyhurst players won the weekly awards for their performances on the ice.

“It’s an honor to be awarded player of the week,” said Janiga. “But as always, hockey is a team sport and I would not have been awarded this without every single player on the team.”
Janiga scored two goals in both games against RIT.

With her first period goal in Saturday’s game, Janiga earned her fifth game-winning goal of the season, putting her second on the team and fourth in the country for game winners. Janiga finished the regular season with 27 goals, 18 assists, totaling to a career high 45 points.

Goaltender Julia DiTondo earned her first collegiate career back-to-back start. She only allowed one goal during the weekend against RIT.

Making her first start since Jan. 24, 2014, DiTondo had a total of 26 saves on 37 shots, denying all 20 shots on Saturday, earning her second shutout of her collegiate career. Her performance earned her the CHA goaltender of the week award.

She finished the regular season with a record of 3-1. A total of 89 saves and only seven goals against gave her a .927 save percentage.

Janiga and DiTondo are eager to finish out the postseason on a high note and keep the momentum alive for their senior seasons.

“We have one more guaranteed game as a team and I know I do not want it to be my last, so I’m going to make sure I do whatever it takes and leave nothing to chance when Friday comes around,” Janiga said.