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.

The Mercyhurst women’s hockey team is accustomed to winning conference championships.

The Lakers secured their 10^th straight College Hockey America regular-season championship with a 3-0 win against Robert Morris in front of 800 fans at Mercyhurst Ice Center on Friday night.

But Jill Szandzik has waited four years to be a champion.

Szandzik played a leading role in the title-clinching victory against the Colonials (17-9-3, 6-3-2), which entered the game trailing the sixth-ranked Lakers (22-6-2, 8-1-2) by two points in the standings. Szandzik’s first of two goals, scored on the power play, snapped a scoreless tie 5 minutes, 4 seconds into the opening period. She scored again with 3:20 left in the second to hand the Lakers a 2-0 lead.

Senior forward Kelley Steadman capped the scoring on the power play 9:33 into the third with her 30^th goal of the season. That was more than enough offense for senior goaltender Hillary Pattenden, who stopped all 25 shots to record her sixth shutout of the season.

Pattenden needs one win to become the first goaltender in NCAA Division I history with 100 career wins.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Mercyhurst 3, Robert Morris 0

Robert Morris  0  0  0  —  0

Mercyhurst  1  1  1  —  3

1^st Period — 1. Mercyhurst, Jill Szandzik 5 (Higson, B. Bram), 5:04 (pp). Penalties — Pietrangelo (R) tripping, 3:41; S. Bram (M) interference, 9:20; Collias (R) tripping, 18:32.

2^nd Period — 2. Mercyhurst, Szandzik 6 (Steadman), 16:40. Penalties — Stack (R) roughing, 13:15; Fergus (R) roughing, 17:27; Pattenden (M) slashing (served by J. Jones), 19:56.

3^rd Period — 3. Mercyhurst, Kelley Steadman 30 (B. Bram, J. Jones), 9:33 (pp). Penalties — Fergus (R) hooking, 1:37; Thomas (R) body checking, 9:06; Luczak (M) holding, 15:37; Steadman (M) high sticking, 18:55.

Shots on goal — RMU, 4-9-12—25; Mercyhurst, 15-11-12—38.

Goaltenders — RMU, Kristen DiCiocco 15-9-3 (38 shots, 35 saves); Mercyhurst, Hillary Pattenden 19-6-2 (25 shots, 25 saves).

Power plays — RMU (0-4), Mercyhurst (2-6).

Attendance — 800.

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

What: No. 4 Mercyhurst College (7-2-0, 1-0-0 CHA) at Wayne State (5-5-0, 1-1-0)

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

Where: City Sports Arena – Detroit

On the air: www.wsuathletics.com (Internet radio)

Players to watch

Mercyhurst – Jr. G Hillary Pattenden (7-2-0 record, 2.18 goals-against average, .903 save percentage, 1 shutout), Sr. F Meghan Agosta (10 goals, 9 assists, 19 points), Sr. F Vicki Bendus (6-12-18), Sr. F Jesse Scanzano (3-9-12), Fr. F Christine Bestland (4-8-12)

Wayne State – So. F Julie Ingratta (6-5-11), Jr. F Alyssa Baldin (7-2-9), Jr. D Jill Szandzik (1-8-9), Jr. F Lauren Ragen (4-2-6), Jr. G Delayne Brian (2-6-1, 2.34, .935)

Fast facts

Mercyhurst – The Lakers return to College Hockey America action after a two-week layoff since losing to CHA rival Niagara in a non-conference game Nov. 6. … The Lakers’ two losses occurred in the final game before a two-week break. Two weeks after an Oct. 16 loss at Bemidji State, they beat Robert Morris 7-3 at home. … Junior F Bailey Bram (7-9-16) has been hospitalized the past few days with an undetermined ailment, coach Michael Sisti said. She will miss tonight’s game, as will sophomore D Samantha Watt (concussion). … Freshman F Christie Cicero (leg) has been practicing, but Sisti is unsure if she will play. … Agosta and Bendus, who rank among NCAA Division I’s top scorers, rejoin the lineup after winning gold with their native Canada at the Four Nations Cup in St. John’s, Newfoundland, last weekend. They missed the loss to Niagara. … The Lakers have won 10 straight against the Warriors and 42-of-47 in the all-time series (42-2-3). … Sisti (289-80-26 career record) needs 11 wins to become the sixth NCAA women’s coach to reach 300.

Wayne State – The Warriors begin a four-game home stand after playing the last eight games on the road. … They have won three of their last four. … They split a season-opening, two-game series with Bemidji State, a team that split with the Lakers in October, and shut out St. Cloud State, which lost to the Lakers. Wayne State also battled then-No. 4 Minnesota in a 1-0 road loss … The doubleheader benefits CHA’s Skate for the Cure event, which benefits the America Cancer Society. … Coach Jim Fetter was Sisti’s assistant from 2000-03.

Up next: vs. Colgate at Tullio Arena (Nov. 27, 2 p.m.)