The Mercyhurst women’s hockey team gave top-ranked Wisconsin a big-time battle.

But after playing the teams played to a draw through two periods in their NCAA Division I quarterfinal matchup Saturday night at Kohl Center, the defending national champion Badgers took control.

Top-seeded Wisconsin scored twice in the third period to seal a 3-1 win against the No. 8 Lakers to end Mercyhurst’s season and send the Badgers (32-4-2) to next weekend’s Frozen Four in Duluth, Minn.

Senior forward Kelley Steadman scored Mercyhurst’s lone goal, which tied the score 1-1 with 40 seconds left in the second period. But Hilary Knight’s short-handed breakaway snapped the tie with 8:42 left in the game. Brianna Decker’s empty-net goal with 1:15 left sealed the Lakers’ fate.

The Lakers (23-8-3) ended their season in the quarterfinals for the second straight season. They lost to Boston University 4-2 a season ago.

No. 8 Mercyhurst (23-7-3) at No. 1 Wisconsin (31-4-2)

When: Saturday, 8 p.m.

Where: Kohl Center – Madison, Wis.

On the air: www.wpt.org/wisconsinchannel, insideBadgerSports.com (live stream), www.iheart.com (Internet radio – The Mic 92.1) and www.wsum.org, www.uwbadgers.com (live statistics)

Fast facts: Mercyhurst plays in the NCAA tournament for the eighth straight season, the longest streak in Division I history. The Lakers broke a tie with Minnesota Duluth, whose seven-year streak ends this season. … The Lakers have a 0-7 all-time record against Wisconsin, including two losses in the NCAA playoffs – 2-1 in double overtime in the 2006 quarterfinals and 5-0 in the 2009 championship game. … The Lakers have a 3-6 record in NCAA playoff games, including a 2-5 mark in the quarterfinals. … Wisconsin and Mercyhurst rank second and third nationally in scoring offense at 4.59 and 4.55 goals per game, respectively. … Mercyhurst leads the nation on the power play (28.3 percent), three spots ahead of the Badgers (23.7). … The teams have combined for seven of the nation’s top 20 scorers – Mercyhurst’s Bailey Bram, pictured at right, (27 goals, 41 assists, 68 points), Christine Bestland (24-34-58) and Kelley Steadman (32-20-52) and Wisconsin’s Brianna Decker (36-42-78), Brooke Ammerman (32-42-74), Carolyne Prévost (25-29-54) and Hilary Knight (28-2-56). … Wisconsin ranks second in scoring defense (1.43 goals per game), more than half a goal better than the Lakers (2.09). … Wisconsin tops the penalty-kill list (89.6 percent), well ahead of Mercyhurst (83.1 percent). … Wisconsin G Alex Rigsby leads the nation in save percentage (.952) and ranks second in winning percentage (.865) and shutouts (9) and third in goals-against average (1.36). … Decker is a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, which honors the nation’s top D-I player. … Wisconsin earned the No. 1 seed despite losing to UMD in the semifinals of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs. … Badgers coach Mark Johnson played on the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 1980 at Lake Placid, N.Y., and coached the U.S Olympic Women’s team in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

- Victor Fernandes

NCAA Women’s Division I Tournament schedule

Quarterfinals – Saturday

No. 5 St. Lawrence (24-9-4) at No. 4 Boston College (23-9-3), 1 p.m.

No. 6 Boston University (23-13-1) at No. 3 Cornell (29-4-0), 2 p.m.

No. 7 North Dakota (22-11-3) at No. 2 Minnesota (31-5-2), 5 p.m.

No. 8 Mercyhurst (23-7-3) at No. 1 Wisconsin (31-4-2), 8 p.m.

Semifinals

March 16 at Amsoil Arena – Duluth, Minn.

Wisconsin-Mercyhurst winner vs. BC-SLU winner, 6 or 9 p.m.

Minnesota-North Dakota winner vs. Cornell-BU winner, 6 or 9 p.m.

Championship game

March 18 at Amsoil Arena – Duluth, Minn.

Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

Mercyhurst College and Girard native Jen Schoullis, a redshirt junior forward at Minnesota, aren’t playing in the NCAA Women’s Division I Frozen Four this weekend at Tullio Arena.

But ticket sales still stood at 3,800 on Thursday, said Ron Sertz, the local operating committee’s executive director. So he hopes the total for the three-day tournament reaches 4,000, which would greatly exceed the NCAA’s initial goal of 2,500.

“It was definitely not something we had hoped for,” Sertz said of losing the Lakers and Schoullis, which might keep what Sertz called “Erie event fans” away. “From the beginning, I thought if things fall our way we could jam the place. Things just didn’t fall our way. But I think we still have a good event.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Meghan Agosta (Contributed/Mercyhurst College)

Senior forward Meghan Agosta was the Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team’s only player on the Reebok Hockey/ACHA All-America Team. The honorees were announced at the NCAA Women’s Division I Frozen Four’s Welcome Banquet on Thursday at Ambassador Banquet & Conference Center.

Agosta, who leads the nation in scoring with 86 points, earned the honor for the fourth straight year.

She was joined on the first team by four players participating in this weekend’s NCAA Women’s Division I Frozen Four – senior goaltender Molly Schaus (Boston College), sophomore defenseman Laura Fortino (Cornell) and senior forward Meghan Duggan and junior forward Hilary Knight of Wisconsin. Senior defenseman Jocelyne Larocque (Minnesota Duluth) also was named to the first team.

The second team included sophomore goaltender Noora Raty (Minnesota), senior defenseman Catherine Ward (Boston University), sophomore forward Brianna Decker (Wisconsin), senior forward Kelli Stack (BC) and sophomore defenseman Lauriane Rougeau and junior forward Rebecca Johnston from Cornell.

In other news, Mercyhurst freshmen forward Taylor Holstrom was named Atlantic Hockey Association’s rookie of the year. Holstrom, who had nine goals and 33 points in 36 games this season, also was named to the all-rookie team. Senior goaltender Ryan Zapolski, an Erie native, earned a spot on the second team. Seniors Jeff Terminesi, a defenseman, and Scott Pitt, a forward, were on the third team.