ERIE, Pa. – Mercyhurst's three late goals will force a game three in the CHA Semifinal Round as the Lakers won 5-2. RMU is now 15-18-1 overall and Mercyhurst is now 19-16-1 in the 2023-24 season.
1st PERIOD
- After being shut out yesterday, the Lakers opened the scoring Saturday afternoon, earning a goal three minutes into the opening period.
- The home side gathered a 2-0 lead later in the period, scoring on their first power play opportunity of the day.
2nd PERIOD
- RMU came back with two goals of their own in the second period to tie up the game.
-
Alaina Giampietro scored once again. Off her original shot, she followed up to bang home the rebound.
- With three minutes left in the middle frame, freshman
Lindsey Smolen scored her first career playoff goal, smashing in a rebound to even the score, 2-2.
3rd PERIOD
- Halfway through the final period, the Lakers scored, which would go down as the game-winning goal.
- Across the final minute of the game, the home side added in two empty-net tallies to secure a 5-2 victory and force a game three in the series.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
On the day, freshman
Alaina Giampietro led the team in shots with nine. Both
Lindsey Smolen and
Wasyn Rice both finished the game as a +1. Center
Jersey Phillips officially reached 200 faceoff wins this season. Freshman
Catriona Crarer won six of her eight draws in the faceoff circle. Defensively,
Shailynn Snow and
Chloé Puddifant both blocked two shots. In net, graduate goaltender Emma Gorksi stopped 38 shots while half of those came in the first period.
MASS PRODUCTION
From Strongsville, Ohio,
Alaina Giampietro extended her point streak to five games as she now owns four goals and two assists during that time frame. Specifically, against the Lakers this season, in six contests, Giampietro has produced five goals and four assists against the opposition. Across her last seven appearances, defenseman
Chloé Puddifant owns seven assists, averaging a point per game. She's paced for six assists in six games when playing the Lakers in the 2023-24 campaign.
UP NEXT
RMU will play one more game in Erie, Pa. against Mercyhurst tomorrow at 2:00 PM. The winner of tomorrow's contest will compete at Penn State for the 2024 CHA Championship on Saturday, March 2 at 2:00 PM.
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