Senior forward Bailey Bram, pictured at left, of the Mercyhurst women’s hockey team has been named a top ten finalist for the 15th annual Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented by Easton Foundations.

An award for The USA Hockey Foundation, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is annually bestowed upon the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey.

Held in conjunction with the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four, the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will be awarded at a brunch ceremony on March 17 at the Greysolon Ballroom in Duluth, Minn.

Senior forward Kelley Steadman and sophomore forward Christine Bestland were among the original finalists, but did not make the cut to the final ten. Neither did Girard native Jen Schoullis, a redshirt senior forward at Minnesota.

It marks the second time that Bram has been a top ten finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, also accomplishing the feat as a sophomore in 2010, the year that Mercyhurst’s Vicki Bendus became the only recipient of the award in program history.

A 13-member selection committee will choose the three finalists (announced March 8), as well as the award recipient, which will be announced live at the brunch ceremony in Duluth on March 17.

2012 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top Ten Finalists

Bailey Bram, F, Sr., Mercyhurst University, Ste. Anne, Manitoba
Brianna Decker, F, Jr., Univ. of Wisconsin, Dousman, Wis.
Laura Fortino, D, Jr., Cornell Univ., Hamilton, Ontario
Rebecca Johnston, F, Sr., Cornell Univ., Sudbury, Ontario
Amanda Kessel, F, So., Univ. of Minnesota, Madison, Wis.
Hilary Knight, F, Sr., Univ. of Wisconsin, Sun Valley, Idaho
Jocelyne Lamoureux, F, Jr., Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D.
Monique Lamoureux-Kolls, F/D, Jr., Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D.
Florence Schelling, G, Sr., Northeastern Univ., Oberengstringen, Switzerland
Natalie Spooner, F, Sr., Ohio State Univ., Scarborough, Ontario

- From Mercyhurst news release, staff report

Four players with local ties – Mercyhurst forwards Bailey Bram, Christine Bestland and Kelley Steadman as well as Girard native and Minnesota redshirt senior forward Jen Schoullis – are among the 30 nominees for the 15th annual Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, which honors the top women’s player in NCAA Division I.

All four players rank among the top 15 scorers in the nation. Bram has 26 goals, 40 assists and 66 points. Bestland and Schoullis each have 22 goals, 33 assists and 55 points. Steadman ranks second nationally with 32 goals to go along with 18 assists and 50 points.

A group of 34 D-I women’s coaches will trim the list to 10 players, which will be announced March 1. Then a 13-member selection committee will choose the three finalists, which will be unveiled March 8.

The recipient will be announced March 17 during the Kazamier award ceremony in Duluth, Minn., site of the Frozen Four.

PITTSBURGH – The Mercyhurst women’s hockey team wanted to sweep Robert Morris this weekend.

Two wins, coupled with two more wins in the College Hockey America tournament March 2-3, would strengthen the sixth-ranked Lakers’ résumé for the NCAA Division I Tournament selection committee.

But Mercyhurst, which secured the CHA’s regular-season championship on Friday, had to settle for a 4-4 overtime tie with the Colonials in front of 179 fans at Island Sports Center Saturday night. The Lakers (22-6-3, 8-1-3) squandered three separate leads, including a 4-3 advantage late in the third period.

RMU’s Dayna Newsom scored the tying goal with 3 minutes, 9 seconds left in regulation. The Colonials (17-9-4, 6-3-3), which were shut out in Friday’s 3-0 loss, also rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits earlier in the game. Then they stymied the nation’s best power play for the final 1:10 of overtime.

Kelley Steadman scored two goals and Bailey Bram had a goal and an assist for the Lakers, which earned the No. 1 seed for the CHA playoffs and a semifinal matchup against No. 4 Syracuse. Hillary Pattenden stopped 32-of-36 shots, but fell short of becoming the first D-I goaltender to reach 100 career wins.

Thea Imbrogno had a goal and an assist for the Colonials, which are seeded second and will face No. 3 Niagara in the semifinals. Courtney Vinet stopped 23-of-25 shots in relief of Kristen DiCiocco.

SUMMARY

Mercyhurst 4, Robert Morris 4 (OT)

Mercyhurst  2  1  1  0  —  4

Robert Morris  1  2  1  0  —  4

1^st Period — 1. Mercyhurst, Kelley Steadman 31 (Luczak, Grenier), 6:59. 2. Mercyhurst, Steadman 32 (Cicero, Zgoda), 9:44. 3. RMU, Rebecca Vint 21 (Imbrogno, B. Delaney), 14:11 (pp). Penalties — Cicero (M) tripping, 7:30; L. Jones (M) interference, 13:48; Vint (R) cross checking, 15:33; B. Bram (M) interference, 15:41; B. Delaney (R) kneeing, 17:30; J. Jones (M) roughing, 17:45; C. Delaney (R) tripping, 18:48; S. Bram (M) embellishment, 18:48.

2^nd Period — 4. Mercyhurst, Jill Szandzik 7 (B. Bram, Bestland), 15:20. 5. RMU, Thea Imbrogno 15 (Vint), 17:28. 6. RMU, Cobina Delaney 8 (Thomas, Newsom), 18:21. Penalties — RMU, too many players (served by Scott), 8:33.

3^rd Period — 7. Mercyhurst, Bailey Bram 26 (unassisted), 4:33. 8. RMU, Dayna Newsom 4 (unassisted), 16:51. Penalties — J. Jones (M) hooking, 5:27; Bestland (M) roughing, 19:58; St. Louis (R) holding, 19:58.

3^rd Period — None. Penalties — Vint (R) body checking, 3:50.

Shots on goal — Mercyhurst, 13-11-10-4—38; Robert Morris, 12-10-8-6—36.

Goaltenders — Mercyhurst, Hillary Pattenden 19-6-3 (36 shots, 32 saves); RMU, Kristen DiCiocco (13 shots, 11 saves), Courtney Vinet 2-0-1 (25 shots, 23 saves).

Power plays — Mercyhurst (0-4), RMU (1-5).

Referees — Clint Evans, Gui Bradshaw. Linesmen — Jonah Paul, Steven Waters.

Attendance — 179.

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

Syracuse (9-18-3, 0-5-3 CHA) at No. 5 Mercyhurst (19-6-2, 5-1-2)

When: Friday, 3 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.

Where: Mercyhurst Ice Center

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

Up next: vs. Robert Morris (Feb. 17, 7 p.m.), at Robert Morris (Feb. 17, 7 p.m.)

Fast facts: Mercyhurst begins the final two weekends of the regular season following a 5-1 loss at No. 3 Cornell Tuesday. … The Lakers are 1-1-1 in their past three College Hockey America games and 1-2-1 in their past four games overall. … Senior F Kelley Steadman (28 goals for a 1.04 per-game average) trails Wisconsin junior F Brianne Decker (29 goals) on NCAA Division I’s goal-scoring list and Holy Cross senior F Stacey Hochkins (1.15) in goals per game. … The Orange snapped Mercyhurst’s 24-game CHA winning streak with a 1-1 tie at Syracuse Jan. 7. Mercyhurst beat Syracuse 8-4 Jan. 6. … The Lakers, which are second nationally at 4.74 goals per game, scored two goals or fewer in six of eight games they have lost or tied. … They tied a season worst with five goals against in the loss to Cornell. They allowed five in the Dec. 2 loss to the Big Red. … The Orange, which reached the CHA title game the past two seasons against Mercyhurst, are the only winless team in CHA play. Yet seven of their nine wins are against teams from D-I power conferences – ECAC Hockey (Quinnipiac, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union), Hockey East Association (Connecticut twice, New Hampshire) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (St. Cloud State). … Syracuse snapped a nine-game winless streak with a 3-2 win at Quinnipiac Jan. 28. But the Orange were swept by Robert Morris in a two-game CHA series last weekend. … The Orange have played 16 games decided by a goal or less (7-7-3).

- Victor Fernandes

ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 5 Mercyhurst women’s hockey team had a chance to earn a key win.

But a disastrous third period dashed the Lakers’ hopes. Third-ranked Cornell scored four goals in the final 20 minutes to hand the Lakers a 5-1 non-conference loss at James Lynah Rink on Tuesday night.

Hayleigh Cudmore scored her second goal of the season 6 minutes 5 seconds into the third to spark the Big Red’s decisive four-goal outburst in a 7½-minute span. Goals from Erin Barley-Maloney, Catherine White and Brianne Jenner sealed Cornell’s first victory in four home games against Mercyhurst (19-6-2).

The teams played evenly in the first two periods. Cornell held a 17-15 edge in shots. They traded goals late in the first period. Mercyhurst’s Kelley Steadman opened the scoring on the power play with her 27^th goal of the season at the 18:05 mark. Cornell responded 35 seconds later on Rebecca Johnson’s goal.

But Cornell (22-3-0) outshot the Lakers 23-5 in the third to finish with a 40-20 advantage in shots and earn a third straight win. The Big Red have won 12 of their last 13 games since a 5-2 loss to the Lakers at Mercyhurst Ice Center on Dec. 3. Cornell won two of three meetings against the Lakers this season.

Hillary Pattenden stopped 35-of-40 shots in a losing effort for the Lakers, which are 1-2-1 in their last four games. Cudmore, Jenner and Johnston had a goal and assist apiece for Cornell. Lauren Slebodnick stopped 19-of-20 shots in net to improve her record to 12-1-0. Mercyhurst returns to College Hockey America action with a two-game home series against Syracuse on Friday and Saturday.

SUMMARY

Cornell 5, Mercyhurst 1

Mercyhurst  1  0  0  —  1

Cornell  1  0  4  —  5

1^st Period — 1. Mercyhurst, Kelley Steadman 27 (J. Jones, Byrne), 18:05 (pp). 2. Cornell, Rebecca Johnston 23 (Jenner), 18:40. Penalties — Bestland (M) tripping, 7:21; Byrne (M) roughing, 8:51; Cicero (M) tripping, 13:33; Ogilvie (C) tripping, 14:45; Young (C) tripping, 17:29.

2^nd Period — None. Penalties — Saulnier (C) hooking, 2:53; Bestland (M) tripping, 16:54; Barley-Maloney (C) interference, 19:16.

3^rd Period — 3. Cornell, Hayleigh Cudmore 3 (Campbell), 6:05. 4. Cornell, Erin Barley-Maloney 6 (Karpenko, Gagliardi), 9:56 (pp). 5. Cornell, Catherine White 12 (Cudmore), 11:43. 6. Cornell, Brianne Jenner 13 (Johnston, Fortino), 13:43. Penalties — DeSutter (M) hooking, 8:59; Szandzik (M) high sticking, 12:56.

Shots on goal — Mercyhurst, 8-7-5—20; Cornell, 8-9-23—40.

Goaltenders — Mercyhurst, Hillary Pattenden 15-6-1 (40 shots, 35 saves); Cornell, Lauren Slebodnick 12-1-0 (20 shots, 19 saves).

Power plays — Mercyhurst (1-4), Cornell (1-6).

No. 5 Mercyhurst (18-5-1, 4-1-1 CHA) at Niagara (9-12-6, 2-3-1 CHA)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Dwyer Arena – Niagara University, N.Y.

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

Up next: vs. Niagara (Saturday, 7 p.m.), at No. 3 Cornell (Tuesday, 7 p.m.)

Fast facts: Mercyhurst plays for the first time since losing to Robert Morris 3-2 Jan. 21 at Mercyhurst Ice Center. The loss snapped the Lakers’ 28-game College Hockey America unbeaten streak, which began in the 2009-10 season. The Lakers’ eight-game overall winning streak also ended that night. … The Lakers face their second straight home-and-home series. They split with RMU two weeks ago. … Mercyhurst leads Niagara in the all-time series 39-6-3. … They rose to fifth from seventh in the USCHO.com Division I poll without playing a game last weekend. … They swept a two-game series at Niagara last month. … Senior F Kelley Steadman (26 goals, 48 points) ranks second to North Dakota junior F and U.S. Olympian Jocelyne Lamoureux (27 goals) on the NCAA D-I list. … Steadman ranks second nationally in goals per game (1.08). … Senior F Bailey Bram (pictured left) leads in points per game (2.45) and assists per game (1.50). … Bram and Steadman are tied for the lead with 10 power-play goals apiece. Steadman is tied for the lead with four short-handed goals. … They lead the nation’s top scoring offense (4.92 goals per game) and power play (30.8 percent). … Senior Hillary Pattenden needs five wins to become the first goaltender to reach 100 wins in NCAA history. … The Purple Eagles have rebounded from an eight-game winless streak (0-5-3) with two wins in their last three games. … They are 14^th nationally on the penalty kill (85.6 percent). … They are 0-4 against ranked teams (Mercyhurst and Boston University).

- Victor Fernandes

Mercyhurst senior forward Kelley Steadman and freshman defenseman Molly Byrne were named College Hockey America player and rookie of the month for January, respectively, the league announced Wednesday.

Steadman had 10 goals, including two hat tricks, and 12 points in leading the fifth-ranked Lakers to a 4-1-1 record this past month. She leads NCAA Division in goals per game (1.08) and third with 26 goals.

Byrne had a goal and eight points in six games. Her seven assists ranked second on the team, while her point total was fourth. She stands fifth on the team in scoring with 26 points (four goals, 22 assists).

Mercyhurst College senior forward Kelley Steadman earned College Hockey America player of the week after totaling five goals in two games this past weekend. She scored all four goals in a 4-2 win at Robert Morris on Friday. She added a goal in a 3-2 home loss to the Colonials on Saturday to become NCAA Division I’s leader with 26 goals.