JAMESTOWN, N.Y. – The Mercyhurst University women’s hockey team felt right at home at Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena.
Behind a potent offense left by Christine Bestland’s six points and Jenna Dingeldein‘s two goals, the No. 6 Lakers dominated Lindenwood from start to finish in a 10-0 College Hockey America win Friday afternoon in a game that was initially scheduled for Mercyhurst Ice Center.
A water main break Thursday forced Mercyhurst officials to close the school and send students home through the weekend. But the change of venue didn’t bother the Lakers (18-4-1, 9-2-0 CHA), which have won all seven career meetings with the Lions by a combined 47-3 score.
Bestland assisted on all three first-period goals on her way to six assists. Her fourth assist, on Dingeldein’s second goal, sparked a three-goal second period. Bestland also assisted on the final two of the Lakers’ four third-period goals to give her 95 career assists. She also reached 150 career points in the game. Shelby Bram added three assists, while Caroline Luczak had her first career goal and an assist. Molly Byrne added a goal and assist for the Lakers, which outshot the Lions 48-17.
Amanda Makela (eight saves) and Julia DiTondo, which made nine saves in her collegiate debut, combined on the shutout. Taylor Fairchild made 36 saves for the Lions (2-22-1, 2-8-1). The two teams conclude the weekend series today at 2 p.m. at Erie Insurance Arena.

The Mercyhurst University women’s hockey team remains fourth in the latest USCHO.com Division I poll, which was released Monday.
The Lakers (14-1-1), which swept a two-game College Hockey America series from Penn State by a combined 12-1 this past weekend, is eight voting points behind third-ranked Cornell (10-3-0). Minnesota (18-0-0) remains No. 1 with all 15 first-place votes and 150 points.
Clarkson (13-3-0) is still second while Harvard (8-1-0) moved into fifth. Boston College (10-3-2), Boston University (11-3-1), North Dakota (11-5-0), Wisconsin (10-6-2) and Northeastern (9-5-2) completed the top 10.
In other Lakers news, sophomore defenseman Vaila Higson was named CHA’s player of the week for totaling two goals and five points in the wins against Penn State. She has 20 points on the season and has averaged 1.25 points per game in a six-game point streak. Freshman forward Jaclyn Arbour was named rookie of the week for scoring her first two collegiate goals in Saturday’s win. Sophomore goaltender Amanda Makela was named to the honor roll for her shutout Friday night.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Mercyhurst University women’s hockey team welcomed Rochester Institute of Technology to the big time harshly Friday night in front of 1,055 fans at Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena. The Lakers scored twice in the first 18 seconds and four goals in the opening period on the way to handing the Tigers a 6-2 loss in their first NCAA Division I game.
The 10th-ranked Lakers (1-0-0, 1-0-0 College Hockey America) scored six unanswered goals before RIT (0-1-0, 0-1-0), which moved to D-I after winning the D-III national championship a season ago, scored twice in the second period.
Christie Cicero scored eight seconds into the game on an assist from Christine Bestland. Cicero returned the favor 10 seconds later, as she set up Bestland for a 2-0 Lakers’ lead. Jenna Hendrikx, one of three transfers from the now-defunct women’s program at Niagara, scored the first of her two goals 8:13 into the first. Molly Byrne capped the onslaught 6:29 later.
Shelby Bram and Hendrikx scored early in the second for the Lakers, which produced offensively despite failing on all eight power-play chances. Carly Payerl and Katie Hubert scored for the Tigers, which went 1-for-8 on the power play.
Bestland had two assists in her three-point outing while Cicero had two points. Freshman Jenna Dingeldein had her first two career points, both assists, in her collegiate debut. Kathy Donohue, a Rochester native, and Emily Janiga, also recorded their first collegiate point on assists. Sophomore goaltender Amanda Makela (19 saves on 21 shots) earned the win in her second career start. The Lakers and Tigers complete the weekend series today at 2 p.m. in Rochester.