Orange Set to Square Off with No. 9 Mercyhurst in weekend pair

SYRACUSE (6-10-7, 4-2-3 CHA) vs. No. 9 Mercyhurst (16-4-2, 7-3-0 CHA)
Date & Time	Friday, Jan. 16, 3 p.m. \| Saturday, Jan. 17, 2 p.m.
Location	Mercyhurst Ice Arena \| Erie, Pa.
Watch	Friday \| Saturday
Game Notes	Syracuse
Live Stats	Friday \| Saturday
Cuse Social Media	@Cuse
Hockey Social Media	@CuseIce

The Syracuse hockey team returns to action for a pivotal weekend pair with No. 9 Mercyhurst. The Lakers lead the CHA, but the Orange sit not far behind in second place heading into the second-half of conference play.

BACK TO CONFERENCE ACTION
- Syracuse will play its first conference game in 40 days on Friday when the Orange travels to Erie, Pa. to take on No. 9 Mercyhurst.
- The game is a pivotal CHA matchup as the Lakers sit in first place and 'Cuse is second in the league's standings.
- The Orange defeated Mercyhurst for the first time in program history in the last meeting between the two, which snapped a 30-game winless streak.

'Cuse vs. Mercyhurst
- This is the 32nd and 33^rd meetings all-time between the Orange and Lakers, by far the most of any program Syracuse has faced.
- Syracuse is 1-28-2 all-time against the Lakers.
- The teams split their only two meetings thus far this season, with the Orange earning their first win in program history in the last meeting.
- Melissa Piacentini scored twice in the win, with Stephanie Grossi dishing out a pair of assists. Allie LaCombe, Nicole Renault, Larissa Martyniuk, Alysha Burriss and Jessica Sibley also recorded a point.
- Last season, Syracuse went 0-4-1 against Mercyhurst, with three of the four losses as being decided by one goal.
- The Lakers have eliminated the Orange from the playoffs in each of the past five seasons.
- Melissa Piacentini has the most points of any active players against Mercyhurst with nine and. Each has one goal and five assists against
Mercyhurst. Kaillie Goodnough 6 (2 g, 4 a), Jessica Sibley 5 (2 g, 3 a), Nicole Renault 5 (3 g, 2 a), Allie LaCombe 4 (1 g, 3 a), Akane Hosoyamada 3 (1 g, 2 a), Larissa Martyniuk 3 (2 g, 1 a) Stephanie Grossi 2 (2 a), Alysha Burriss (1 g, 1 a), Dakota Derrer (1 a) and Julie Knerr 1 (1 g) each have points against the Lakers in their careers.

Scouting the Lakers
- The Lakers sit at 16-4-2 on the year and 7-3-0 in league play.
- Emily Janiga leads the Lakers with 30 points (17G-13A) and 85 shots. Followed by Jenna Dingeldein with 22 points (11G-11A).
- Two of the Mercyhurst players competed over the holiday break for their respective countries. Senior forward Shelby Bram competed for Canada's National Women's Development Team at the 2015 Nations Cup in Füssen, Germany. Bram helped the Canada's National Women's Development Team win gold at the 2015 Nations Cup. Also, Janiga participated at the USA Hockey Women's Winter Training Camp.
- Amanda Makaela is the Lakers' go-to option in net, leading the CHA in goals against average.

Grossi Dishes Out the Assists
- Freshman Stephanie Grossi leads the Orange with 20 points on the year, with the main reason being her ability to set up her teammates.
- Grossi has 14 assists on the season (23 games) which ties for the league lead ranks fourth in the nation amongst rookies (21st overall).

Gilligan's Island
- Goaltender Jenn Gilligan posted a career-high 44 saves in the Orange's 2-1 win against North Dakota.
- She thwarted all-six UND power play attempts in the game.
- Gilligan had tied a career-high with 31 saves the night prior.
- As of Jan. 14, only 27 times this season has a player recorded more than 40 saves in a single game.

Good Things Happen When Grossi is on the Ice
- Syracuse is plus-13 when Stephanie Grossi is on the ice this season, that ties for the best production in the CHA.
- It's four goals better than the next closest rookie (Sarah Robello of Mercyhurst) at plus-9.
- Melissa Piacentini's plus-4 rating is the next highest on the Orange.

LaCombe Dominating the Dot
- Winger Allie LaCombe has been a pleasant surprise since she began taking draws for the Orange.
- She leads the Orange and CHA with a .652 faceoff percentage.
- She has taken more faceoffs as the season has worn on, averaging 10 faceoffs taken per game over the last-four games after taking just nine faceoffs in the first-11 games of the season.

Blue Line Production
- The Orange have gotten a number of points from its defensemen this season, with two of the top-six and three of the top-12 defender point-producers in the CHA suiting up for the Orange.
- Nicole Renault is the leader for 'Cuse, ranking second in points by a defender in the league with 10.
- Kaillie Goodnough's eight points ties for fourth and Larissa Martyniuk has six points, which ranks ninth.

#PayingThePrice
- The 'Cuse coaching staff has made a point to preach the importance of blocking shots.
- Two members of the Orange have taken that most to heart. Larissa Martyniuk and Julie Knerr have combined to block 77 shots on the season (34 and 33 respectively).
- The next closest on the team is Jessica Sibley, and no one else has more than 15.

Puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Syracuse University Athletics

Orange Set to Square Off with No. 9 Mercyhurst in weekend pair

Related News

Players Mentioned

Alysha Burriss

Dakota Derrer

Jenn Gilligan

Kaillie Goodnough

Stephanie Grossi

Akane Hosoyamada

Julie Knerr

Allie LaCombe

Larissa Martyniuk

Melissa Piacentini

Nicole Renault

Jessica Sibley

Related Videos