The Mercyhurst University women’s hockey team are College Hockey America tournament champions again.
The Lakers exploded for four goals in the third period of a 4-1 title-game win against Syracuse in front of 1,127 fans Saturday at Mercyhurst Ice Center. But will the program’s 10th conference championship in the past 11 years serve as the last positive moment of the Lakers’ season?
Mercyhurst (28-6-1) learns its NCAA Division I Tournament fate today at 6 p.m. during a webcast on NCAA.com. Lakers coach Michael Sisti said “it would be a crime if we are left out. I think 100 percent we should be in the tournament, and we shouldn’t be the eighth seed either.”
The Lakers hope for one of five at-large spots into the eight-team field, since CHA won’t earn an automatic bid until the 2014-15 season. The other three spots belong to the champions of ECAC Hockey, Hockey East Association and Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
“Anything can happen,” said senior goaltender Stephanie Ciampa, who earned tournament MVP honors after stopping 45-of-47 shots in the top-seeded Lakers’ two wins, including 19-of-20 against the second-seeded Orange (20-15-1). “I think we’re in good enough shape.”

- Victor Fernandes

CHA All-Tournament team
MVP: Stephanie Ciampa, Mercyhurst (45 saves on 47 shots)
Goaltender: Ciampa
Defense: Stephanie DeSutter, Mercyhurst (2 assists)
Defense: Brittney Krebs, Syracuse (2 assists)
Forward: Christine Bestland, Mercyhurst (2 goals, assist)
Forward: Lauren Jones, Mercyhurst (goal, 2 assists)
Forward: Sadie St. Germain, Syracuse (GWG in semifinal)

College Hockey America tournament schedule
Semifinals – Friday
at Mercyhurst Ice Center
No. 1 Mercyhurst 2, No. 4 Robert Morris 1
No. 2 Syracuse 2, No. 3 Rochester Institute of Technology 1 (OT)
Championship game – Saturday
at Mercyhurst Ice Center
Mercyhurst 4, Syracuse 1
Note: Champion doesn’t earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I tournament.

SUMMARY

Mercyhurst 4, Syracuse 1
Syracuse 0 1 0 — 1
Mercyhurst 0 0 4 — 4
1st Period — None. Penalties — Bestland (M) body checking, :12; Scharfe (S) tripping, 5:15; Janiga (M) interference, 11:14; Johnson (S) hooking, 12:36.
2nd Period — 1. Syracuse, Shiann Darkangelo 16 (Krebs), 19:59 (pp). Penalties — LaCombe (S) tripping, 2:00; Jones (M) hooking, 5:09; Hendrikx (M) cross checking, 6:57; Renault (S) interference, 10:27; DeSutter (M) hooking, 12:41; Piacentini (S) hooking, 13:01; Higson (M) indirect contact to the head – cross checking, 14:03; Hosoyamada (S) hooking, 15:10; Byrne (M) cross checking, 18:51.
3rd Period — 2. Mercyhurst, Molly Byrne 8 (Bestland, Dingeldein), 4:41. 3. Mercyhurst, Caroline Luczak 2 (Jones, Buquet), 6:33 (pp). 4. Mercyhurst, Christine Bestland 28 (Jones), 9:32 (sh). 5. Mercyhurst, Christie Cicero 13 (unassisted), 18:45 (en). Penalties — Piancentini (S) tripping, 4:41; Chippy (M) hooking, 8:16; Goodnough (S) hooking, 9:32; Welch (M) hooking, 11:44.
Shots on goal — Syracuse, 4-9-7—20; Mercyhurst, 10-7-14—31.
Goaltenders — Syracuse, Kallie Billadeau 16-9-0 (30 shots, 27 saves); Mercyhurst, Stephanie Ciampa 19-1-0 (20 shots, 19 saves).
Power plays — Syracuse (1-9), Mercyhurst (1-7).
Referees — Timothy Holtz, Brian Skursky. Linesmen — Jason Leisten, Dorsey Dick.
Attendance — 1,127.

Three stars
* Christine Bestland, Mercyhurst (SH goal, assist) ** Stephanie Ciampa, Mercyhurst (19 saves) *** Caroline Luczak, Mercyhurst (GW goal)

No. 9 Mercyhurst University (26-6-1) vs. Robert Morris (15-14-13)
Syracuse (19-14-1) vs. Rochester Institute of Technology (16-15-5)
When: Today, 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 3 p.m.
Where: Mercyhurst Ice Center
On the air: www.americaonesports.com (live stream), www.hurstathletics.com (live statistics)
What to expect: Mercyhurst begins its quest for a 10th College Hockey America tournament championship in the last 11 years with a healthy lineup. Junior F Christie Cicero (severe concussion, sprained neck) rejoined the lineup Feb. 23 against RIT. … The Lakers can capture their 12th conference title in the last 13 years, dating back to the 2000-01 season in the Great Lakes Women’s Hockey Association. … Win or lose, the Lakers learn if they will make a NCAA-record ninth straight NCAA Division I tournament appearance when the eight-team field is unveiled Sunday at 6 p.m. on NCAA.com. … Mercyhurst lost the first three regular-season meetings with defending CHA champion Robert Morris before posting a 9-1 home win Feb. 9. … The Lakers swept all four respective meetings with Syracuse and RIT. … Junior F Christine Bestland finished the regular season ranked fourth nationally with 40 assists, fifth with 66 points and ninth with 26 goals. She also tied for second with 10 power-play goals and tied for eighth with six game-winning goals. … Sophomore Ds Molly Byrne and and Vaila Higson were tied for fifth among all defensemen with 31 points apiece. … F Emily Janiga is third among all freshmen with 40 points, one spot ahead of F Jenna Dingeldein (39 points). … Senior G Stephanie Ciampa ranks second with a .944 winning percentage (17-1-0), fourth with a 1.40 goals-against average, tied for seventh with a .935 save percentage and tied for eighth with four shutouts. … RMU needed two wins last weekend over Lindenwood, including a three-overtime victory in the opener, to reach the semifinals. … RIT, which beat Penn State twice by one goal last weekend, looks for a CHA championship in its first season in the league and at the D-I level. … Syracuse reached the title game two of the last three years.

- Victor Fernandes

No. 9 Mercyhurst University (22-6-1, 13-3-0 CHA) at Syracuse (18-11-1, 12-3-1)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where: Tennity Ice Pavilion – Syracuse, N.Y.
On the air: www.americaonesports.com (live stream), www.hurstathletics.com (live statistics)
What to expect:Mercyhurst can clinch their 11th straight College Hockey America regular-season championship – and 10th outright title – with a sweep of this two-game series. The Lakers lead the Orange by one point with four games left in the regular season. … Mercyhurst split a series with Robert Morris last weekend, while the Orange swept a series from Rochester Institute of Technology by 2-1 scores to extend their winning streak to eight games. … The Orange won six of those games by one goal, including the past four outings. They haven’t lost since Jan. 15 (8-1 at Cornell). … The Lakers swept a two-game series from Syracuse, 1-0 and 4-1, Jan. 11-12 at Mercyhurst Ice Center. … Mercyhurst is unbeaten against Syracuse (20-0-1), with the only blemish being a 1-1 tie Jan. 7, 2012. … The Lakers slipped to ninth from seventh in USCHO.com’s Division I poll this week. They remain seventh in the Ratings Percentage Index and PairWise Ranking, which are used to determine the eight-team field in the upcoming NCAA Division I playoffs. … Junior F Christine Bestland ranks fifth nationally with 61 points and fourth with 2.10 points per game. She also ranks among the national leaders in goals (23), goals per game (0.82), assists (38), assists per game (1.31), power-play goals (nine) and game-winning goals (six). … Sophomore D Molly Byrne is tied for fourth among all defensemen with 28 points and 0.97 points per game. … Freshman F Emily Janiga is third among all rookies with 37 points and 1.28 points per game, one spot ahead of F Jenna Dingeldein (35 points, 1.21 per game). … Mercyhurst senior Stephanie Ciampa (13-1-0 record, 1.24 goals-against average, .941 save percentage, four shutouts) and Syracuse junior Kallie Billadeau (14-6-0, 1.35, .947, six shutouts) are two of the nation’s top goaltenders. … The Orange have relied on the nation’s eighth-best scoring defense (1.93 goals per game). They are only 16th in scoring offense (2.80 goals per game).

- Victor Fernandes

PITTSBURGH – The Mercyhurst women’s hockey team will play for the College Hockey America title.

Yet before earning an opportunity to win a 10^th straight conference tournament championship, the sixth-ranked Lakers had to survive a stern test from surprising Syracuse in the CHA Tournament semifinals Friday afternoon.

The top-seeded Lakers held off Syracuse 4-3 in front of 267 fans at Island Sports Center to secure a matchup in Saturday’s 3 p.m. title game against second-seeded Robert Morris. The Colonials (18-9-4) beat third-seeded Niagara 3-2 in the second semifinal.

Fourth-seeded Syracuse (10-22-3) took an early 1-0 lead 6 minutes, 50 seconds into the game on the first of Shiann Darkangelo’s three goals. She nearly matched her four-goal total in 34 regular-season games.

Mercyhurst (23-6-3) tied the score at 1 on Kristine Grenier’s goal at the 10:01 mark of the first period, and then took a 2-1 lead on Christine Bestland’s power-play goal with 1:14 left in the period.

Bestland’s second power-play goal of the game, her 24^th goal of the season, handed the Lakers a 3-1 lead 8:37 into the second. But Darkangelo pulled the Orange within a goal on the power play 4:06 later.

Grenier scored again 3:36 into the third to record her first career two-goal game and regain the Lakers’ two-goal advantage at 4-2, only to have Darkangelo score again on the power play with 5:19 left in the game. Grenier had three goals in 31 regular-season games.

But Mercyhurst held off  the Orange down the stretch to seal the hard-fought win.

Hillary Pattenden made 32 saves for the Lakers to become the first goaltender in NCAA history with 100 wins. She outdueled Syracuse’s Jenesica Drinkwater, who had 38 saves. Mercyhurst senior forward Bailey Bram had an assist to become the fourth player in Lakers’ history to reach 200 career points. She joins Meghan Agosta (NCAA-record 303 points), Jesse Scanzano (225) and Valerie Chouinard (200).

College Hockey America tournament schedule

at Island Sports Center, Pittsburgh

Semifinals – Friday

No. 1 Mercyhurst 4, No. 4 Syracuse 3

No. 2 Robert Morris (17-9-4) vs. No. 3 Niagara (10-15-8), 3:45 p.m.

Championship game – Today

Mercyhurst (23-6-3) vs. Robert Morris/Niagara, 3 p.m.

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

SUMMARY

Mercyhurst 4, Syracuse 3

Syracuse  1  1  1  —  3

Mercyhurst  2  1  1  —  4

1^st Period — 1. Syracuse, Shiann Darkangelo 5 (Mullan, Greco), 6:50 (pp). 2. Mercyhurst, Kristine Grenier 4 (B. Bram, S. Bram), 10:01. 3. Mercyhurst, Christine Bestland 23 (Byrne, J. Jones), 18:46 (pp). Penalties — DeSutter (M) high sticking, 3:53; B. Bram (M) cross checking, 5:15; Roach (S) hooking, 10:01; Grenier (M) tripping, 15:30; Darkangelo (S) hooking, 16:31; Skelly (S) roughing, 18:17.

2^nd Period — 4. Mercyhurst, Bestland 24 (unassisted), 8:37 (pp). 5. Syracuse, Darkangelo 6 (Greco, Mullan), 12:43 (pp). Penalties — Higson (M) hooking, 6:33; Ferrara (S) hooking, 7:38; S. Bram (M) body checking, 10:40; Byrne (M) boarding, 11:22; B. Bram (M) slashing, 13:24; Drinkwater (S) tripping (served by Ferrara), 15:56.

3^rd Period — 6. Mercyhurst, Grenier 5 (Zgoda), 3:36. 7. Syracuse, Darkangelo 7 (Sorensen, Greco), 14:41 (pp). Penalties — Steadman (M) interference, 13:18; Ferrara (S) hooking, 15:26.

Shots on goal — Syracuse, 12-15-8—35; Mercyhurst, 20-11-11—42.

Goaltenders — Syracuse, Jenesica Drinkwater 4-9-1 (42 shots, 38 saves); Mercyhurst, Hillary Pattenden 20-6-3 (35 shots, 32 saves).

Power plays — Syracuse (3-8), Mercyhurst (2-6).

Referees — Scott Bell, Jason Brown. Linesmen — Justin Loomis, Erik Geller.

Attendance — 267.

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

No. 5 Mercyhurst College (12-4-0, 0-0-0 CHA) at Syracuse (8-12-1, 0-1-1)

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

Where: Tennity Ice Pavilion – Syracuse, N.Y.

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

Up next: vs. Niagara (Jan. 13, 7 p.m.), at Niagara (Jan. 14, 2 p.m.)

Fast facts: Mercyhurst plays for the first time since sweeping a doubleheader from Lindenwood Dec. 14-16 at Mercyhurst Ice Center. … The Lakers will be without the Bram sisters, Bailey (21 goals, 48 points) and Shelby (6 goals, 17 points), who are playing for the Canadian National Women’s Under-22/Development Team at the Meco Cup (formerly MLP Cup) in Germany. They have combined for one point in the first two games for Canada (2-0). … Senior G Hillary Pattenden can add to her NCAA Division I record total of 92 career wins. She is tied for fifth nationally with a .750 winning percentage (12-4-0), tied for sixth in save percentage (.939) and seventh in goals-against average (1.72). … Sophomore F Christine Bestland (15 goals, 39 points) ranks sixth nationally in scoring. … Syracuse is winless in three straight and in seven of 11 games since a season-high, three-game winning streak. … The Orange opened CHA play with a 2-1 loss and 1-1 tie against Robert Morris Dec. 9-10. … They have scored 48 goals in 21 games (2.28 per game).

- Victor Fernandes

Lindenwood University will become College Hockey America’s fifth team starting in the 2012-13 season, Commissioner Robert DeGregorio announced Friday. Lindenwood, a four-time ACHA club national champion located in St. Charles, Mo., is playing its first NCAA Division I season as an independent.

The school officially applied to the conference in September. The Lions are 1-12 this season, with their only win coming against College of Saint Benedict, a D-III school from St. Cloud, Minn., on Nov. 4.

They have lost 11 games against D-I opponents by a combined 100-12 score. They are 0-4 against current CHA schools Mercyhurst College (7-0 and 14-1 losses) and Robert Morris (8-0 and 7-2). They face Syracuse for two games Dec. 2-3, followed by two games at Mercyhurst Dec. 14-15.

The Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team has been picked to capture a 10^th straight College Hockey America championship in the coaches poll, which was released Wednesday.

The Lakers received three of four first-place votes and nine total points. Niagara had the other first-place vote to tie Syracuse for second. Robert Morris was picked to finish last in the four-team league. The eighth-ranked Lakers open the season Friday against No. 9 Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. at Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Lindenwood University has applied to join College Hockey America, a five-team NCAA Division I conference that includes Mercyhurst College, for the 2012-13 season, the league announced Wednesday.

“The directors have accepted the application of Lindenwood University for admission into the CHA,” commissioner Robert DeGregorio said in a prepared statement. “We will begin the process for admission, which will include a campus visit as soon as possible.”

Lindenwood, located in St. Charles, Mo., enters its first Division I women’s hockey season in 2011-12 as an independent after winning four ACHA club national championships in the past six years. The Lions open the season Sept. 23 at defending national champion Wisconsin. They face Mercyhurst four times this season – Oct. 28-29 at home and Dec. 14-15 at Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Lindenwood would be the sixth team in the CHA, which recently admitted Penn State for the 2012-13 season. The league also includes Niagara, Robert Morris and Syracuse. A six-team league would make the CHA eligible for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Mercyhurst coach Michael Sisti said. But a decision hasn’t been made on whether the league would earn that bid in 2012-13 or wait two years.

HHAVERHILL, Mass — Robert DeGregorio, Commissioner for College Hockey America (CHA), announced today that Penn State has been official admitted into the CHA beginning with the 2012-13 season.

“We were very happy to receive Penn State’s application to join CHA,” states Commissioner DeGregorio. “And now that we have had an official visit the president, Athletic Director and other administrators on campus we are pleased and excited with the admission of Penn State to College Hockey America effective with the 12-13 season. We know because of their rich academic and athletic tradition they will be a great addition to our league and will help make our league better.”

“We’re excited to join such a competitive conference in College Hockey America,” said Tim Curley, Penn State Director of Athletics. “The CHA showcases elite student-athletes and teams and we look forward to developing strong in-state and regional rivalries with its members.”

“We’re honored and proud to be joining the CHA at this transformational time in our program’s history,” said Josh Brandwene, head women’s ice hockey coach. “Competing right away against such quality teams is a great opportunity for us to hit the ground running and further accelerate our program’s growth and development. It’s an exciting time for Penn State Women’s Hockey.”

Penn State joins fellow Keystone State members Mercyhurst and Robert Morris as well as Niagara and Syracuse to make-up the five teams in the CHA. Each league member will play four games (two home, two away) against the other league institutions during the 2012-13 season. The regular season champion will host the 2013 College Hockey America Tournament, as all teams will participate in the championship.
- From College Hockey America release