Mercyhurst remained perfect on the young season with a 4-2 win over visiting UConn Sunday, October 13, at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers are 4-0 and are off to their best start ever in this, their fourth season. UConn dropped to 0-2.
Mercyhurst scored two goals in a 33-second span of the first period. Senior defender Jenn Jeffrey scored her second goal of the season on a power play at 8:07 and senior forward Tracy Logan followed with her first of the year at 8:40 as Mercyhurst went to the dressing room with a 2-0 advantage.
The Lakers missed an opportunity to stretch the advantage early in the second period when they failed to capitalize on a two-skater advantage for 1:05. The penalty kill seemed to rejuvenate the Huskies as junior forward Sara Mahoney scored on the power play at 7:58 to draw UConn within one.
Connecticut had an apparent tying goal nullified a few moments later when referee Pete Feola lost sight of the puck and whistled the play dead before the puck crossed the Mercyhurst goal line. Senior defender Randi Pilger restored Mercyhurst’s momentum at 19:58 of the second when her slapshot through a screen eluded UConn sophomore netminder Shannon Murphy.
The Huskies made one last run late in the third when sophomore forward Caitlin Salazar-Reid scored at 16:31. But the Lakers survived an extra attacker and sophomore forward Sara McDonald scored her first of the year into an empty net with just three seconds left.
Murphy made 31 saves for the Huskies while senior goalie Tiffany Ribble picked up her third win of the season by stopping 24 of 26 UConn shots.
