SU Heads to Mercyhurst for CHA Semifinals

Syracuse (20-13-3) vs. Mercyhurst (22-7-4)
Date & Time	Friday, March 7 \| 4:00 p.m.
Location	Erie, Pa. \| Mercyhurst Ice Center
Live Stats	Hurstathletics.com
Streaming Video	America One Sports Network
Social Media	Facebook \| @CuseIce

CHA Championship Game
Date & Time	Saturday, March 8 \| 3:00 p.m.
Location	Erie, Pa. \| Mercyhurst Ice Center
Live Stats	Hurstathletics.com
Streaming Video	America One Sports Network
Social Media	Facebook \| @CuseIce

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—The Orange ice hockey team is set to close its season with a trip to the CHA Championships, hosted by Mercyhurst in Erie, Pa. Syracuse will face the Lakers in the semifinal game on Friday, March 7 at 4 p.m.

Should SU defeat Mercyhurst, the team will face either No. 10 Robert Morris or RIT in the CHA Championship game.

THE ROAD AHEAD
• After defeating Lindenwood in the first round series, the Orange will have Mercyhurst up next, a team that it has never beaten in all of its six seasons.
• Syracuse could face either Robert Morris or RIT in the CHA Championship game. RIT advanced to the semifinal round after slipping past Penn State last weekend.
• If the Orange beats Mercyhurst in the semifinal game, it will be the first time Mercyhurst hasn't advanced to the championship round and just the second time in the CHA's 11 years of existence that someone other than the Lakers become the CHA Champions.

FIRST ROUND SUCCESS
• The Orange dominated Lindenwood last weekend despite close games with the Lions throughout the regular season. Syracuse took victories of 4-1 and 6-0 against Lindenwood on Friday and Saturday.
• Saturday was the first six-goal performance of any team this season (either SU or its opponents). The win also matched the program's record of 20 wins in a season.
• Over the course of the weekend, eight different Orange scored goals and two scored twice. Melissa Piacentini, Margot Scharfe and Caitlin Roach each had a three-point game on Saturday with Piacentini recording two goals and an assist, Scharfe scoring one goal and two assists and Roach helping on three scores.
• Jenesica Drinkwater recorded her fourth shutout of the season against the Lions on Saturday afternoon, making 22 saves along the way. In total, she made 42 saves on the weekend.

CHA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• This is just the second year the CHA Tournament has included a first round. Last season the Orange finished second in the regular season standings and received a bye into the semifinal game.
• SU has been to the semifinal round every season since the program began in 2008-09 and has advanced to the title game three times including last year, losing each time to Mercyhurst.
• Mercyhurst has won 10 of the CHA's 11 championships and has made it to the title game in all 11 tournaments.
• Winning the CHA Tournament does not guarantee a bid to the National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship though the winner could receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. There are three automatic qualifiers (winners of WHEA, ECAC and WCHA) and five at-large bids for the eight-team field.
• Starting next season, the winner of the CHA Tournament could be an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. This is the second year in a two-year waiting period since the conference added its 6th team to become eligible for the AQ.

REGULAR SEASON REWIND
• Syracuse finished with an 18-13-3 regular season record, exactly matching last year's program-best winning record of .584 prior to the CHA Tournament.
• The Orange defeated three and tied two nationally ranked opponents, finishing with a 3-5-3 record against top-10 teams.
• SU had its best-ever season on the road, finishing 10-6-2 (.611), which also ties its most wins while away from Syracuse.
• In conference, Syracuse finished 9-8-3 with losses to then-No. 10 Mercyhurst, RV Robert Morris, RIT and Lindenwood. The Orange swept its series with Penn State to maintain its perfect record against the Nittany Lions.
• Early in the season, SU went on an unbeaten streak of six games which, at the time, was the fifth-longest in Division I hockey.

FLANAGAN'S FROZEN FOURS
• While at the helm of St. Lawrence, head coach Paul Flanagan made four consecutive Frozen Four appearances and seven National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Tournament appearances in total.
• Flanagan is the ninth all-time winningest coach in women's college hockey with his 321 career victories.
• In his 15th season of coaching, and sixth at SU, Flanagan has a career record of 321-182-41.
• Flanagan holds a record of 91-99-17 in his six seasons at SU.

Syracuse University Athletics

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