ERIE, Pa. – The No. 1/2 Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team bounced back from its second loss of the season with a 4-1 victory over College Hockey America rival Robert Morris Tuesday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers, who now own a 20-0-0 advantage in the all-time series against RMU, improve to 21-2-3 on the season and 8-1-1 in league play.
Four different Lakers tallied two points in the contest, including junior captain Vicki Bendus, who improved her team-leading total to 48 with a goal and an assist. Junior Ashley Cockell also added a goal and an assist, while junior Jesse Scanzano and sophomore Kelley Steadman tallied two helpers apiece.
Mercyhurst jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. Junior captain Melissa Lacroix netted her second goal of the season just four seconds into a power-play opportunity when she took pass from Steadman at the blueline and sent it through traffic at 15:17.
The Lakers extended their advantage to 3-0 in the second on goals exactly two minutes apart by freshman Stephanie DeSutter and Bendus.
DeSutter made it a 2-0 advantage at 8:08, taking a pass from Bendus on a 2-on-1 rush and ripping it off the goaltender’s blocker pad for her first collegiate score. Bendus then increased the lead to three when she knocked in a cross-crease pass from Scanzano at 10:08. It was her 21st goal of the season and tied her for the team-lead with sophomore Bailey Bram.
After RMU opened the third period with a goal from Jamie Joslin at 5:35, Cockell restored the three-goal advantage, stuffing in a rebound on the doorstep at 11:31.
Mercyhurst outshot Robert Morris 37-13 and converted 1-for-5 on the power play. Sophomore Hillary Pattenden recorded 12 saves, including two on five RMU power plays (0-for-5). Kristen DiCiocco suffered the loss with 33 stops.
Both teams return to the ice this weekend with a two-game series on Friday, Feb. 5 and Saturday, Feb. 6 at the RMU Island Sports Center.