Mercyhurst senior forward Kelley Steadman headlined the annual College Hockey America Tournament banquet by being unanimously named player of the year.

She led the conference with 15 goals, six power-play goals and two short-handed goals. She also finished with 23 points in 12 CHA games.

Freshman Molly Byrne was named the best defenseman and selected to the All-CHA first team and All-Rookie Team. She led all CHA defensemen with 14 points and has 33 points overall.

Senior forward Bailey Bram, senior defenseman Jill Szandzik and sophomore forward Christine Bestland also were named to the first team. Senior forward Jess Jones was named to the second team as well as a co-recipient of the Best Defensive Award. Robert Morris’ Paul Colontino, a former student, player and coach at Mercyhurst, was named coach of the year.

Robert Morris (17-8-3, 6-2-2 CHA) at No. 6 Mercyhurst (21-6-2, 7-1-2)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Mercyhurst Ice Center

On the air: www.b2livetv.com (live stream), www.hurstathletics.com (live statistics)

Up next: at Robert Morris (Saturday, 7 p.m.), CHA Championship at RMU (March 2-3, TBA)

Fast facts: Mercyhurst slipped to sixth from fifth in the USCHO.com Division I poll despite a 2-1 record last week, which was capped by sweeping a two-game College Hockey America series against Syracuse last weekend. … The Lakers can capture at least a share of their 13^th straight regular-season conference championship. They won three straight Great Lakes Women’s Hockey Association titles from 1999-2002 before the league folded to form CHA. … Seniors Bailey Bram, Jess Jones, Hillary Pattenden, Kelley Steadman, Jill Szandzik and Pamela Zgoda play their final regular-season home games tonight. … Bram (21 goals, 33 assists, 54 points), Steadman (26-12-38), Jones (10-28-38) and sophomore Christine Bestland (18-30-48) have combined for 88 of the team’s 137 goals and 207-of-374 points. … Pattenden needs five wins to become the first NCAA D-I goaltender with 100 career wins. … RMU has broken the 7-year-old program’s record for wins in a season. The original mark was 12 set in 2007-08 and tied in 2008-09. … The Colonials are unbeaten in four straight games and are 4-1-1 in their last six outings.

- Victor Fernandes

Mercyhurst College’s Jess Jones, Hillary Pattenden and Molly Byrne swept College Hockey America’s three weekly honors, which were released Monday. Jones, a senior forward, was named player of the week after totaling three goals and five points in a two-game weekend split with Cornell.

Pattenden, a senior goaltender, made 27 saves in a 5-4 loss to the third-ranked Big Red on Friday. She stopped 33-of-35 shots in a 5-2 win on Saturday. Byrne, a defenseman, shared rookie honors with Syracuse forward Nicole Ferrara. Byrne had a goal and three points against the Big Red.

Meanwhile, the Lakers (11-3-0) remained sixth in the latest USCHO.com Division I poll, which was released Monday, after a weekend split with No. 3 Cornell (10-2). Wisconsin (17-1-0) and Minnesota (15-3-0) are still 1-2 in the poll. Boston College (12-4-1), which host Mercyhurst in a two-game series Friday and Saturday, and North Dakota (11-6-1) completed the top five.

Meghan Agosta (Contributed/Mercyhurst College)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Meghan Agosta celebrated her 24^th birthday on Saturday in grand style.

She tied the NCAA’s all-time goals record with her 150^th goal in the Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team’s 4-2 College Hockey America win against Syracuse in front of 247 at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

Agosta scored on the power play with 59 seconds left in the second period to tie the mark set by Harvard’s Nicole Corriero from 2002-05. The goal also handed the fifth-ranked Lakers a 3-1 lead.

Agosta finished the Lakers’ season-high eighth straight win with a goal and two assists, giving her a national-best 77 points. Jess Jones scored two goals for the Lakers (26-5-0, 15-0-0 CHA). Vicki Bendus had a goal and assist. Margot Scharfe had a goal and assist for the Orange (11-15-4, 5-6-1).

Agosta will have to wait two weeks before having a chance to set the goals record. The Lakers are off next weekend before concluding the regular season Feb. 25 at home against Robert Morris.

SUMMARY

Mercyhurst 4, Syracuse 2

Mercyhurst  1  2  1  —  4

Syracuse  1  0  1  —  2

1^st Period — 1. Mercyhurst, Jess Jones 12 (Palmer, Agosta), 3:06. 2. Syracuse, Holly Carrie-Mattimo 4 (Scharfe, Menard), 9:43. Penalties — Dimmen (S) hooking, 10:01; Marty (S) hooking, 13:03; Watt (M) holding the stick, 19:12.

2^nd Period — 3. Mercyhurst, J. Jones 13 (Scanzano, Agosta), 14:56. 4. Mercyhurst, Meghan Agosta 31 (Schols, Bendus), 19:01 (pp). Penalties — Cockell (S) roughing, 7:35; Schols (M) hooking, 15:44; Cockell (S) roughing, 18:16; J. Jones (M) hitting after whistle. 18:41; Skelly (S) hitting after whistle, 18:41.

3^rd Period — 5. Mercyhurst, Vicki Bendus 18 (Bestland, Lacroix), 3:30. 6. Syracuse, Margot Scharfe 6 (Carrie-Mattimo, Metcalfe), 9:01. Penalties — Johnson (S) body checking, 16:06.

Shots on goal — Mercyhurst, 12-17-15—44; Syracuse, 4-5-8—17.

Goaltenders — Mercyhurst, Hillary Pattenden 24-5-0 (17 shots, 15 saves); Syracuse, Kallie Billadeau 4-10-2 (44 shots, 40 saves).

Power plays — Mercyhurst (1-5), Syracuse (0-2).

Referees — Kate Connelly, Leah Wrzidlow. Linesmen — Will McStravick, Eric Geller.

Attendance — 247.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Meghan Agosta still needs two goals to break the NCAA’s career goals record. But on Friday night, the Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team didn’t need her to score.

The No. 5 Lakers continued their stifling second-half defense in a 4-0 College Hockey America win against Syracuse at Tennity Ice Pavilion. Mercyhurst (25-5-0, 14-0-0 CHA) has six of seven shutout wins in the past 11 games. They have outscored teams 30-7 in a season-high, seven-game win streak.

Mercyhurst held the Orange (11-14-4, 5-4-1) to 20 shots on goal and 0-for-7 on the power play.

Junior Hillary Pattenden stopped all 20 shots to record her sixth shutout win of the season. Jess Jones scored the only goal the Lakers needed 30 seconds into the opening period. Jesse Scanzano scored a goal apiece in the second and third. Bailey Bram added a third-period goal. Cassea Schols had three assists.

Agosta had an assist for her nation-best 73^rd point of the season. But she didn’t score a goal despite taking 19 of the team’s 44 shots. She remains two shy of breaking the all-time mark of 150 set by Harvard’s Nicole Corriero from 2002-05. Agosta, who set the career point and power-play goal records last weekend, has another chance to break the mark today, when the Lakers face Syracuse at 2 p.m.

SUMMARY

Mercyhurst 4, Syracuse 0

Mercyhurst 1  1  2  —  4

Syracuse  0  0  0  —  0

1^st Period — 1. Mercyhurst, Jess Jones 10 (Schols), :30. Penalties — Skelly (S) body checking, 2:10; Jones (M) tripping, 4:41; Bram (M) handling puck with hands, 5:53; Cockell (S) hooking, 17:20; Jones (M) holding, 17:20; Krebs (M) roughing, 18:53.

2^nd Period — 2. Mercyhurst, Jesse Scanzano 21 (Bestland), 7:06. Penalties — Johnson (S) hooking, 3:11; DeSutter (M) interference, 11:46; Steadman (M) roughing, 15:53; Cockell (S) roughing, 16:41; Scanzano (M) roughing, 16:41; Syracuse, too many players (served by Roach), 17:51; Bram (M) hooking, 17:59.

3^rd Period — 3. Mercyhurst, Bailey Bram 13 (Agosta, Schols), 5:03 (pp). 4. Mercyhurst, Scanzano 22 (Bendus, Schols), 9:33 (pp). Penalties — Lacombe (S) slashing, :35; Lacombe (S) interference, 4:17; Syracuse, bench minor (served by Scharfe), 4:17; Scanzano (M) roughing, 5:56; Cockell (S) slashing, 7:45; Corbett (M) high sticking, 15:44.

Shots on goal — Mercyhurst, 14-7-23—44; Syracuse, 6-8-6—20.

Goaltenders — Mercyhurst, Hillary Pattenden 23-5-0 (20 shots, 20 saves); Syracuse, Kallie Billadeau 4-9-2 (44 shots, 40 saves).

Power plays — Mercyhurst (2-8), Syracuse (0-7).

Attendance — 377.

What: Wayne State (8-15-1, 1-8-1 CHA) at No. 5 Mercyhurst College (20-5-0, 9-0-0)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.

Where: Mercyhurst Ice Center

On the air: www.americaone.com (Internet video)

Players to watch

Mercyhurst – Sr. F Meghan Agosta (27 goals, 38 assists, 65 points), Jr. G Hillary Pattenden (18-5-0 record, 2.33 goals-against average, .898 save percentage, 3 shutouts), Sr. F Vicki Bendus (16-27-43), Sr. F Jesse Scanzano (16-26-42), Jr. F Bailey Bram (11-23-34)

Wayne State – Jr. G Delayne Brian (8-15-1, 2.55, .925, 4 SO), So. F Julie Ingratta (9-9-18), Jr. D Jill Szandzik (3-14-17), Jr. F Alyssa Baldin (10-6-16), So. F Gina Buquet (5-7-12)

Fast facts

Mercyhurst – Agosta, the nation’s leading scorer and second-leading goal scorer, needs five goals to surpass Nicole Corriero’s NCAA career record of 150 goals set at Harvard from 2002-05. Agosta needs four points to break three-time Olympic medalist Julie Chu’s national record of 250 set at Harvard (2002-05, 2006-07). Agosta needs one power-play goal to reach 50 and break a tie with New Hampshire’s Jennifer Hitchcock (49 from 2005-08). … The Lakers play two of their final three home games in the regular season. … They swept the Warriors 2-0 and 5-2 in Detroit Nov. 19-20 to improve their record in the all-time series to 44-2-3, including 12 straight wins. … They have won four straight by a combined 18-4 score since a 3-0 home loss to No. 2 Cornell Jan. 18. … Pattenden has allowed one goal in the past three games and has a shutout streak of 142 minutes, 34 seconds. She has five shutouts this season. … She needs two wins to break Laura Hosier’s program record of 74 career victories set from 2004-08. … Freshman F Christine Bestland (18-20-38) ranks fourth nationally in rookie scoring. … Agosta (player), Pattenden (goaltender) and Bestland (rookie) earned College Hockey America honors for January. … Junior F Jess Jones (9-11-20) recorded her 100^th career points – the 12^th player in program history to reach that mark – last weekend at Niagara.

Wayne State – The Warriors, who are tied for last in the conference, are winless in nine of their last 10 games (1-8-1). … They have scored three goals or more in six of their eight wins. They have scored two goals or fewer in 14 of their 15 losses and the one tie, including five shutout defeats. … The Warriors play on the road for the first time since in the New Year. They played six straight home games. … Coach Jim Fetter, Lakers coach Michael Sisti’s former assistant, has a 117-117-23 record at Wayne State.

Up next: at Syracuse (Feb. 11, 7 p.m.; Feb. 12, 2 p.m.)

– Victor Fernandes

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team started the New Year strong.

The Lakers scored three goals in the first period and added five in the third to secure an 8-1 win against St. Cloud State Saturday on the opening day of the Easton Holiday Showcase at National Hockey Center.

The No. 4 Lakers (14-3-0) conclude tournament play today at 1:07 p.m. against second-ranked Wisconsin (17-2-0), a 7-2 winner against No. 10 Northeastern (10-5-4) on Saturday. The Lakers and Badgers meet for the first time since Wisconsin’s 5-0 win in the

Jesse Scanzano (Contributed/Mercyhurst College)

2009 NCAA Division I championship game.

That will be a much tougher test than Mercyhurst faced against St. Cloud State (0-17-1), the only winless Division I men’s or women’s program in the nation. Jesse Scanzano had three goals and an assist to move within four points of joining teammate Meghan Agosta (260) and former Laker Valerie Chouinard (201 from 2005-08) as the only players in program history with 200 points.

Agosta, the nation’s leading scorer with 43 points, contributed five assists while freshman Christine Bestland had two goals and an assist. Jess Jones and Cassea Schols had a goal and assist apiece.

Mercyhurst went 4-for-8 on the power play and outshot the Huskies 50-21.

- Victor Fernandes

What: Colgate (5-10-0) at No. 3 Mercyhurst College (9-2-0)

When: Saturday, 2 p.m.

Where: Tullio Arena

On the air: www.americaone.com (Internet video)

Players to watch

Mercyhurst – Jr. G Hillary Pattenden (9-2-0 record, 2.06 goals-against average, .907 save percentage, 1 shutout), Sr. F Meghan Agosta (13 goals, 12 assists, 25 points), Sr. F Vicki Bendus (8-14-22), Jr. F Bailey Bram (8-9-17), Sr. F Jesse Scanzano (4-12-16)

Colgate – So. F Brittany Phillips (6-6-12), So. F Jenna Klynstra (6-3-9), So. D Jordan Brickner (1-6-7), Jr. D Amanda Kirwan (1-6-7), Fr. F Jocelyn Simpson (3-3-6)

Bailey Bram (Contributed/Mercyhurst College)

Fast facts

Mercyhurst – Bram (ill) rejoins the lineup after being hospitalized last week. … D Samantha Watt (concussion) won’t play today. … Freshman F Christie Cicero returned to game action last weekend at Wayne State after missing the previous month with a leg injury. … The Lakers have won 14-of-18 career meetings with the Raiders (14-2-2), including 8-3 and 8-2 wins at Mercyhurst Ice Center last season. … Agosta leads NCAA Division I with 2.50 points per game and trails Quinnipiac freshman F Kelly Babstock (27 points), Ohio State junior F Laura McIntosh (26) and Boston College senior F Kelli Stack (26) in overall scoring. … Agosta is third in goals per game (1.30) and tied for fourth in goals. … Bendus (1.40), Agosta (1.20) and Scanzano (1.09) are among the top five in assists per game. … The Lakers rank second to Wisconsin in scoring offense (5.50 goals per game to 5.36). … Junior F Jess Jones (4-5-9) had a five-point outing and seven total points in the two-game sweep of Wayne State last weekend.

Colgate – The Raiders are 1-3 against ranked opponents this season. They lost to then-No. 9 Boston College 4-0 on Oct. 8, defeated then-No. 9 New Hampshire 1-0 in overtime the next day, lost to then-No. 10 Providence 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 16 and fell to then-No. 10 Harvard 3-1 on Nov. 6. … Their only wins against Mercyhurst were in the 2004-05 season (3-0) and in 2008-09 (4-3). … Colgate, a member of ECAC Hockey, enter today off a 4-3 loss to Syracuse, the Lakers’ College Hockey America rival … The Raiders face their first non-conference road game of the season.

Up next: vs. Niagara (Dec. 3, 7 p.m., Dec. 4, 2 p.m.)

- Victor Fernandes

What: No. 3 Mercyhurst College (2-0-0) at Maine (2-0-0)

When: Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m.

Where: Alfond Arena – Orono, Maine

On the air: www.goblackbears.com (Internet video/radio)

Players to watch: Mercyhurst – F Meghan Agosta (2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points), G Hillary Pattenden (2-0-0 record, 1.20 goals-against average, .939 save percentage), F Vicki Bendus (3-2-5), F Jesse Scanzano (2-2-4), F Bailey Bram (1-1-2); Maine – So. F Brittany Dougherty (2-5-7), Jr. F Myriam Croussette (2-3-5), Jr. F Danielle Ward (2-3-5), Sr. F Jennie Gallo (2-2-4), So. G Brittany Ott (1-0-0, 0.00, 1.000, 1 shutout)

Fast facts

Mercyhurst – The Lakers opened the season last weekend with a two-game sweep of St. Cloud State by a combined 15-2 score, their most goals in a weekend series since scoring 16 times against Colgate last season. … The Lakers scored nine first-period goals in those games. … Agosta, who took last season off to prepare for her native Canada’s run to a gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics last winter, had two goals and four assists against the Huskies. … Bendus, Scanzano and Bram – three of NCAA Division I’s top-five scorers last season – combined for six goals and 11 points. … The Lakers face the Black Bears for the first time since a two-game sweep (4-0 and 5-0) at home in the 2007-08 season. They travel to Maine for the first time in four years. … The Lakers lead the all-time series 5-1. … They are 39-15-3 overall against Hockey East Association foes, including winning records against all but two schools – New Hampshire (4-5-1) and Northeastern (0-3-0). Junior forward Jess Jones (knee) could join the lineup as soon as next weekend’s trip to Bemidji State. … Agosta and Pattenden are College Hockey America’s reigning player and goaltender of the week.

Maine – The Black Bears began the season with 7-0 and 11-0 wins against Sacred Heart two weeks ago. They were off last weekend. … The Black Bears swept Hockey East’s weekly awards two weeks ago – Dougherty (top player), Ott (top goaltender) and freshman forward Jenny Kistner (top rookie). … They have 11 freshmen and sophomores on their 24-player roster. … They have only one player from Maine.

Up next: at Bemidji State (Oct. 15-16, 3 p.m.)