Mercyhurst won its second straight College Hockey America Women’s Championship Sunday, March 14, with a 3-1 win over Niagara. Despite losing a dozen seniors to graduation last year, the Lakers now have a team-record 26 wins (26-6-4) while the Purple Eagles ended with a 9-23-3 mark. The Lakers entered the tournament ranked seventh nationally..
The Lakers outshot Niagara 26-0 in the opening period, but led only 1-0 thanks to terrific goaltending from NU freshman Allison Rutledge and the tenth goal of the season from freshman forward Jackie Jarrell at 12:51.
Mercyhurst junior forward Sara McDonald gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead at 18:16 of the second. McDonald’s eighth of the year was helped by senior forward Lyndsay Barch and junior forward Chrissy Yule.
Niagara scored its only goal at 14:51 of the third when senior Lindsay Vine beat Mercyhurst junior goaltender Desi Clark. The Lakers ended the scoring when sophomore defender Dani Lansing scored into an empty net with just 31 seconds left. It was her third of the season.
Mercyhurst outshot the Purple Eagles 42-13, but only 16-13 after the first twenty minutes.
McDonald had the game-winner in the championship tilt for the second straight year. She had the lone goal last year in a 1-0 win over Findlay in the CHAW title game played at Wayne State.
Clark allowed only one goal in the tournament and was chosen tournament MVP.
