COLLEGE HOCKEY AMERICA WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS FOR GAMES THROUGH MONDAY, January 16, 2012

College Hockey America Players of the Week

Jess Jones - Mercyhurst

Senior, Foward, Picton, Ontario

Jones had a goal and three assists as the Lakers swept the weekend series against Niagara. She tallied a goal and two assists in Friday’s 5-4 overtime win and then had an assist in Saturday’s 4-2 victory. In Friday’s overtime victory, Jones scored the game-tying goal with 4:05 left in regulation and then assisted on the game winning tally in overtime. Her goal was a power play goal. Her assist on Saturday also came on the power play. For the season, Jones is third on the team in scoring with 10 goals and 26 assists for 36 points. She leads the team with eight points in four conference games.

College Hockey America Goaltender of the Week

Amanda Makela - Mercyhurst

 Freshman, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Makela made her first collegiate start on Saturday afternoon on the road against conference-rival Niagara and helped lead the Lakers to a 4-2 victory to remain unbeaten in conference play. Makela, who appeared in two previous games this season, stopped 17-of-19 shots to earn her first collegiate victory. The two goals she allowed both came during a Niagara power play, one of which was on a 5-on-3 situation. She is 1-0-0 this season and has allowed only the two goals in slightly less than 100 minutes of action (1.21 GAA, .931 save percentage).

College Hockey America Rookie of the Week

Kelsey Gunn - Niagara

Freshman, Foward, Smith Falls, Ottawa

Gunn scored a goal and two assists for three points this weekend against No. 5/5 Mercyhurst…Gunn scored a goal and an assist in Friday’s 5-4 loss, while netting an assist in Saturday’s 4-2 loss.

College Hockey America Honor Roll

Molly Byrne, Mercyhurst (Freshman, Defenseman, Plymouth, Minnesota)-Byrne had another fine weekend scoring a goal and adding an assist helping Mercyhurst sweep Niagara over the weekend. On Friday, Byrne had an assist on a second period power play goal and then on Saturday, she scored a power play goal that put the Lakers ahead by two goals with four minutes left. Byrne was also a +3 over the weekend. She now has at least one point in four consecutive games, and is fifth on the team in scoring with four goals and 20 assists for 24 points.

College Hockey America Team Notes

MERCYHURST: Mercyhurst improved to 39-6-3 lifetime against Niagara after sweeping the Purple Eagles over the weekend. The Lakers needed overtime on Friday, winning by a score of 5-4, and then by the score of 4-2 on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, senior Jill Szandzik scored her second overtime winner of the season 1:58 into the extra period. Her other overtime winner of the season came at fourth-ranked Boston College on December 10. Senior Jess Jones had a goal and two assists to lead the Laker offense on Friday, scoring a power play goal with 4:05 left in regulation to send the game to overtime, and then assisting on Szandzik’s game-winner in overtime. She added an assist on Saturday for a four-point weekend. Senior Bailey Bram and her younger sister, freshman Shelby Bram, returned to the Laker lineup after missing last weekend’s games against Syracuse. The Brams were in Germany competing in the 2012 Meco Cup for the Canadian Women’s Under-22 National Team. Bailey had four assists over the weekend, picking up two points in each game, while Shelby had one assist over the weekend. Senior Kelley Steadman had a goal in each of the two games, giving her 21 for the season, which ties her for the team lead with Bailey Bram. The 21 goals is a career high for Steadman, as is the 33 points she has this season. Her goal on Saturday was a shorthanded goal, giving her four for the season and ties her for the nation’s lead in that category. Freshman Amanda Makela made her first collegiate start on Saturday afternoon and picked up her first career victory by stopping 17-of-19 Niagara shots. Makela had appeared in two previous games this season and has allowed just the two goals in slightly less than 100 minutes of action. Senior Hillary Pattenden started on Friday and stopped 20-of-24. It was her 14th win of the season and 94th of her career. Bailey Bram continues to lead the country in scoring with 52 points in 20 games, for a 2.60 point per game average. Wisconsin’s Brianna Decker is second at 2.35 per game. The Lakers saw their conference unbeaten streak extend to 27 consecutive games over the weekend. The Lakers are 26-0-1 in their last 27 conference games. The Lakers will play a home-and-home series against Robert Morris this Friday and Saturday marking the first meetings against former Associate Head Coach Paul Colontino, who now coaches the Colonials. Friday’s game will be at Robert Morris while Saturday’s tilt will be in Erie.

NIAGARA: Niagara is now 7-11-5, while going 0-2-0 in CHA play thus far…Niagara was the last team to start conference play and will visit Syracuse next weekend…Niagara dropped 5-4 (OT) and 4-2 decisions to No. 5/5 Mercyhurst this past weekend…Three of Niagara’s next four will be on the road, against Syracuse and Robert Morris…Niagara only has five more home dates, Jan. 27 vs. Robert Morris, Feb. 3 against Mercyhurst, Feb. 12 vs. Robert Morris and Feb. 24-25 vs. Syracuse…Niagara has scored four powerplay goals so far in two CHA games…Niagara will have a few players taking on their former teams next weekend in Syracuse, transfers Kelsey Welch and Erin Burns…Freshman defenseman Kelsey Gunn led the charge for the Purple Eagles this past weekend with a goal and two assists for three points in the sweep at the hands of Mercyhurst…Niagara’s Feb. 3, 2012 contest at Dwyer Arena against Mercyhurst is the team’s Pink The Rink contest…The game will be broadcast live on Time Warner Cable Sportsnet. 

ROBERT MORRIS: After having this past weekend off, the Robert Morris University women’s hockey team begins its most important stretch of the regular season as RMU plays five CHA series over the next five weekends … The Colonials still made news despite being off last week as they earned votes in the United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) national rankings. The recognition for RMU came just three days after the Colonials tied the program record for wins with a thrilling 3-2, come-from-behind victory at Providence … The Colonials rank among the top eight nationally in scoring offense (3.42 goals per game), scoring defense (1.79 goals per game) and scoring margin (1.63 goals per game) and also have the eighth-highest winning percentage across the nation (.684) … RMU is currently on pace to break school records for total goals in a season and goals against average … Two Colonials, sophomore Thea Imbrogno (Etobicoke, Ontario / Mississauga Jr. Chiefs), the reigning CHA Rookie of the Year, and freshman Rebecca Vint (Caledon, Ontario / Brampton Junior Thunder), are both on pace to surpass RMU’s current top mark for points in a season … Robert Morris’ two-game set with No. 5 Mercyhurst this Friday and Saturday will be the first home-and-home series in program history.

SYRACUSE: The Syracuse ice hockey team (8-13-2, 0-2-2 CHA) went 0-1-1 against No. 5 Mercyhurst last weekend, dropping an 8-4 decision on Friday before earning its first point against the Lakers in program history with a 1-1 tie on Saturday … Syracuse received goals from five different scorers during the weekend … On Friday, the Orange trailed 4-2 after the first period before the Lakers continued their offensive explosion during the final 40 minutes … Shiann Darkangelo had one goal and one assist for the Orange, while Kallie Billadeau made 23 saves in relief of Jenesica Drinkwater (12 saves) … Darkangelo was also a force in the faceoff circle throughout the weekend, winning 60.5% of her draws (23-of-38) … Darkangelo has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) for SU this season, which leads all Orange rookies … She is 41st in the nation among rookie scorers (0.48 points per game) … Saturday saw the Orange take a 1-0 lead with a goal from Lisa Mullan with 2:56 left in the first period … Billadeau made 33 saves for SU, including 26 straight to end the game and preserve the draw … Billadeau is 4-6-2 this season for Syracuse posting a 3.09 goals against average (fourth in the conference and 35th in the nation) and .897 save percentage (fourth in the conference and 32nd in the nation) … She also has 323 saves this season, which is third in the CHA … Holly Carrie-Mattimoe is tied for 60th in the nation in goals per game (0.39), and is tied for the team lead with 14 points (nine goals, five assists) … She also has four power play goals this season, which is tied for 19th in the nation and sixth in the CHA ... The Orange’s seven freshmen (Jordyn Burns, Darkangelo, Nicole Ferrara, Kaillie Goodnough, Casey Hirsch, Julie Knerr and Allie LaCombe) have 63 of SU’s 143 points (44.1%) … Syracuse has won 52% of its faceoffs taken this season (696-of-1331), led by Darkangelo’s 57% performance (242-of-422) … SU will be off this weekend before returning to the ice on January 17 when the Orange hosts No. 3 Cornell at 7:00 p.m. from Tennity Ice Pavilion.