Mercyhurst College women’s hockey continued their winning streak this past weekend at St. Lawrence to reach 15-1-1 for the season.

Junior Jesse Scanzano led the Lakers to victory with her fourth career hat trick.

“Going into Saturday’s game, we knew they were going to come out strong after the win on Friday. They played a lot better and put up a good fight but once they scored their second goal to tie it up 2-2, I knew it was time to step up and do whatever I could to help the team come up with the win.

“Fortunately, things started going my way, I was at the right place at the right time and my linemates gave me great opportunities to bury,” she said.

The first goal against the St. Lawrence Saints came from freshman Lauren Jones. She picked up the puck and moved it through traffic in front of the net at 12:47 for her third goal of the season and the only goal of the first period.

At 2:09 into the second, sophomore Meghan Corbett took a pass from junior Cassea Schols to bring the Lakers’ lead to 2-0. Sophomore Bailey Bram fired off a backhand shot just over two and a half later to add the third goal of the game and give Schols her second assist that night.

St. Lawrence retaliated at 6:32 with a power-play goal, and the Lakers went into the second intermission with a 3-1 lead.

The Lakers fought back early in the third with a second goal from Jones at 17:59. This goal marked the first game this season in which a freshman scored more than one goal in a game.

A 6-on-4 power-play goal from St. Lawrence with a mere 10 seconds left in the game closed the gap to 4-2.

Saturday night’s game was great for the Lakers, as well, even if it started slow.

St. Lawrence scored first, with the only goal of the first period at 8:56.

The Lakers struck back in the second. Junior Ashley Cockell scored two goals, at 10:06 and 14:38, pushing them into the lead with a 2-1 score.

The first goal of the third came from St. Lawrence at 4:06 in, but the Lakers came back with a vengeance.

Scanzano started the scoring frenzy with a bouncing shot off the glove of the Saints’ goalie. Jones came in just over a minute later with her fifth goal of the season to bring the score to 4-2. It didn’t stop there.

Scanzano then got going once more to get her fourth career hat trick, scoring consecutive goals at 13:42 and 16:15 for a final score of 6-2.

The Lakers will get a three-week break. They return to the ice Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, to play Minnesota State in the first game of the Easton Holiday Hockey Tournament in St. Cloud, Minn.