Orange Stays Home for #10 Mercyhurst - Syracuse University Athletics

Syracuse (14-9-2, 6-4-2 CHA) vs. Mercyhurst (15-7-3, 8-3-1 CHA)
Date & Time	Friday, Jan. 31 - 7:00 p.m. \| Saturday, Feb. 1 - 2:00 p.m.
Location	Syracuse, N.Y. \| Tennity Ice Pavilion
Live Stats	SUathletics.com
Streaming Video	Friday: AmericaOneSports.com \| Saturday: AmericaOneSports.com
Social Media	Facebook \| @cuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—The Syracuse ice hockey team is in the middle of its six game home stretch, taking on No. 10 Mercyhurst at Tennity Ice Pavilion on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. The Orange is just five points out of first place and three points behind Mercyhurst, the second place team in College Hockey America.

SU is currently fourth in CHA standings and has eight more conference games left this season. If the standings stay as they are, the Orange will host a first round series of the CHA playoffs on Feb. 28-Mar. 2 against Lindenwood but would earn a first round bye if it claimed first or second place.

SCOUTING MERCYHURST

- The Lakers are 15-7-3 overall (8-3-1 CHA) and enter the weekend after a 5-3 win over No. 8 RMU. Every MU skater has a point on the season and standout goalie Amanda Makela has even assisted on a goal. Mercyhurst is outscoring its opponents 87-50 which equates to an average of 3.48 goals per game while allowing just 2.00.

- Christine Bestland leads the team in all categories with 38 points, 14 goals and 24 assists. Her total points ranks fourth in the nation and first in CHA and her 14 goals is the second most among conference skaters. She also leads the conference in assists and ranks fourth nationally in the category.

- Emily Janiga is also productive on offense with 30 points on the season (13 goals, 17 assists). Christie Cicero and Kaleigh Chippy each have 11 goals and Shelby Bram is the team's second-leading helper with 20 assists.

- Makela has played in 23 of 25 games this season and has a 13-6-3 record. She has a 2.08 GAA and .922 save percentage.

'CUSE SWEEPS PENN STATE
- The Orange defeated the Nittany Lions in all four contests this season to maintain its perfect 8-0-0 record in its series with the CHA opponent.
- Syracuse shut out PSU on Saturday afternoon and won a hard-fought battle on Friday night with a victory in overtime, the second time this year the Orange used extra minutes to overtake the Nittany Lions.
- Melissa Piacentini and Margot Scharfe each recorded four points on the weekend with Piacentini scoring three goals and an assist and Scharfe tallying three assists and a goal.
- Syracuse scored just one power play goal this weekend but maintained its first place ranking in the CHA with an 18.7 conversion percentage.

HOME SWEET HOME
• Syracuse is in the middle of its six-game home stretch this weekend, taking on No. 10 Mercyhurst on Friday and Saturday in Tennity Ice Pavilion.
• All-time, Syracuse is 40-39-6 at Tennity and 2-2-0 at the Onondaga War Memorial, which adds up to a .506 winning percentage.
• So far this season Syracuse has a 7-4-1 record at home, including wins against No. 4/3 Boston College, Union and Colgate out of conference and besting Lindenwood, RIT and Penn State in CHA play.
• The Orange tallied a 10-8-0 overall record in Syracuse last season, including a 6-4-0 conference record at Tennity Ice Pavilion.
• SU has had a winning home record three times in program history, going 6-5-1 in 2008-09 and 9-8-3 in 2010-11.

ORANGE BY NUMBERS
• The Orange's 14 wins are split evenly between home and away games, winning seven on the road and seven between Tennity Ice Pavilion and the Onondaga War Memorial.
• Syracuse wins or ties 76 percent of the time when scoring before its opponent, wins 73 percent of the time when leading after the first period and wins 89 percent of the time when leading after the second period, losing only three when it took a lead after the first 20 minutes and only once when it had an advantage with one period remaining.
• With an active offense, SU rarely loses. The Orange is 11-2-0 when outshooting an opponent and 11-2-1 when it scores three or more goals in a contest. SU has also never lost a game when it holds its opponent to one goal or less.
• Syracuse wins or ties 68 percent of the time when it scores a power play goal and 75 percent of the time when they prevent an opponent man-up score.

SU SKATES FOR THE CURE
• The Orange goes pink on Friday, Jan. 31 and Saturday, Feb. 1 against Mercyhurst for the College Hockey America's annual Skate for the Cure event to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer.
• All proceeds from Syracuse will benefit the Breast Care Program at Upstate Cancer Center. In the past six years, the CHA has raised over $70,000 between its teams that has been donated to various cancer centers.
• Last season the Orange sold t-shirts, had a 50/50 raffle and raffled off a jersey to help raise the $2,500 donated to Upstate Cancer Center.

Next Event

Related News

Related Videos