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Sports Women's hockey sweeps Niagara; Agosta recovering from ankle injury
By Kirk Campbell Staff writer Even with out the nation's top scorer, Meghan Agosta, the No. 7 Mercyhurst College women's hockey team (21-6-3 overall, 6-1-1 CHA) won a pair of games, 5-2 on Friday and 5-1 on Saturday, against College Hockey America rival Niagara (7-19-4 overall, 1-7-0 CHA) at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Freshman center Vicki Bendus tailed seven points on the weekend, four of which were goals and three came in Fridays match-up against the Purple Eagles. Bendus now has 10 goals and 28 points on the year which places her fifth on the team in points. The Lakers jumped out to an early lead Friday scoring two goals in 9:39 to start the first period. Bendus score the games first goal as she beat the Purple Eagles netminder Jill Zelonis 5:24 into the period. The other light-lamper for the Lakers was senior Stephanie Jones. Bendus was assisted by fellow freshmen Genna Prough and Jesse Scanzano while Bendus and freshman Cassea Schols helped Jones. Niagara then got on the board with a goal from Marie Henriksen as she beat Laker senior goalie Laura Hosier late in the first period. Mercyhurst took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Second period action saw Bendus tally her first career hat-trick scoring her second and third goals. Her goals came six minutes apart and the third goal via the power-play extending the Lakers lead to 4-1. Prough and Jones assisted the first goal while the second was unassisted. Hosier stopped all nine shots faced in the second period. "Being able to score a hat-trick meant a lot because it was so important to allow our team to win this weekend," said Bendus. Bendus capped off her five point night as she assisted Jones for her 11th goal of the year midway through the third period. Senior forward Sherlyn Frasier also helped on Jones's goal. The Purple Eagles finished the scoring as Henriksen beat Hosier late in the third closing the gap to 5-2. Saturday's game was much of the same for the Lakers as they scored the games first three goals one in the first and two in the second period. Freshman defenseman Melissa Lacroix scored her second goal of the season midway through the first beating Zelonis top shelf. Lacroix was assisted by Frasier and Freshman Cheyenne Bojeski which was her first career assist. The Lakers took a 1-0 lead into the second period. Mercyhurst added to their lead when Senior Danielle Ayearst found the back of the net off a rebound from a shot by Jones. The goal marked the second time this season Ayearst lit the lamp for the Lakers giving them a 2-0 lead. Ayearst who normally plays defense has been inserted as a forward to help with recent injuries to the Lakers line-up. The Lakers next goal came six minutes later when Freshman Prough scored her eighth goal of the season and was assisted by Schols. The Purple Eagles scored their only goal when Henriksen scored her third goal of the weekend closing the gap to 3-1. Bendus finished her exceptional weekend when weaved around a Niagara defender while being tripped and still was able to lift the puck over Zelonis's shoulder to extend the Lakers lead to 4-1. Junior Natalie Payne assisted Bendus with a pass from deep in the Lakers zone. Frasier finished the scoring late in the third while being assisted by fellow Seniors Ayearst and Kirsten Erickson. "I'm not sure why I had such a big weekend," said Bendus. "I felt like the last few weekends I've been getting a lot of offensive chances but this weekend everything clicked and the pucks were going in the net." The Lakers return to action this weekend as they travel to Detroit, Mich. to avenge a loss and tie early this season to Wayne State. The game times are set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday. "It's best for myself and the team to rest and get healthy however, its hard to sit in the stands and watch my team play, but I'm glad to see them step up and show character which proved they know what to do to be successful," said Agosta about her ankle injury. "If all goes well I hope to return to the line-up this weekend against Wayne State."
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