Thanks to freshman Jenna Dingledein’s 15th goal of the season at 4:49 of overtime, Mercyhurst is going back to the Frozen Four, as the Lakers upset No 2 Cornell, 4-3.
Mercyhurst, which was shutout by Cornell, 4-0, on Jan. 29, scored the lone goal of the first period when senior Gina Buquet knocked home a loose puck past Cornell netminder Lauren Slebodnick at 8:34. The Lakers, held to 19 shots by the Big Red in January’s loss, outshot Cornell 16-7 in the first period.
Cornell however, responded and took a 2-1 lead in the second period. Brianne Jenner fired a shot past Mercyhurst goalie Stephanie Ciampa on a five-on-three power play at 12:29. Late in the period Jess Brown beat Ciampa on a goal-mouth scramble with just under a minute left.
The Lakers however, fought back in the third. Stephanie DeSutter tied the game on a shot from the left circle with at 7:29, and Caroline Luczak gave Mercyhurst the lead when she scored on a blast with 73 seconds left in the game.
The lead didn’t last long, as after an icing, the Big Red pulled Slebodnick for an extra attacker. Jenner won the faceoff and linemate Jillian Saulnier fired one past Ciampa from the right point to tie the game at 19:04.
That set the stage for Dingledein. Lauren Kilroy took a shot from the right point that was blocked in front of the Cornell goal, and it came to Dingledein, who tapped it by Slebodnick.
The Lakers will compete in Minneapolis next weekend against Boston University in their third Frozen Four appearance.
