Orange Host Mercyhurst For Shot At CHA First Place

Syracuse vs. Mercyhurst
Game Details	Friday, Jan. 14 @ 3:00 p.m. \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| War Memorial Arena
Game Coverage	Live Coverage: Stats \| Video \| Time Warner Cable Sports Twitter: @cuseice Instagram: @cuseice Facebook: /cusewice
Syracuse Links	News \| Roste r \| Schedule \| Notes
Mercyhurst Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

Syracuse vs. Mercyhurst
Game Details	Saturday, Jan. 15 @ 3:00 p.m. \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| War Memorial
Game Coverage	Live Coverage: Stats \| Video Twitter: @cuseice Instagram: @cuseice Facebook: /cusewice
Syracuse Links	News \| Roste r \| Schedule \| Notes
Mercyhurst Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

SYRACUSE, N.Y.- The Syracuse women's ice hockey team hosts Mercyhurst for a pivotal College Hockey America two-game series this weekend at War Memorial Arena. The first game is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 14 and both games are slated for a 3 p.m. start time.

Friday's contest against the Lakers will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Sports.

Syracuse (9-10-3, 5-1-2) currently resides two points behind Mercyhurst (9-7-4, 6-0-2) in the CHA standings. The Orange need two wins to take over the top spot or a win and a tie to even the Lakers in first place after the weekend.

"This is going to be a huge weekend, but it's not all or nothing because we still have two more games against them on the road," head coach Paul Flanagan said. "I think that this weekend can really set the tone and help establish us as we come down the stretch."

The Orange are coming off a 4-0 win on Tuesday night in its non-conference finale against Union. Senior netminder Jenn Gilligan recorded a 20-save shutout as sophomores Alysha Burriss and Emily Costales each finished with two points.

Both the Orange and Lakers have 12 remaining CHA games left on their schedule that includes this weekend's two-game series.

Scouting Mercyhurst
The Lakers enter Friday's game on a four-game unbeaten streak, going 2-0-2 over that span. Mercyhurst had a 3-1 win over RPI and 4-1 victory against CHA foe Robert Morris during the stretch. The Lakers tied both teams once.

Mercyhurst freshman goaltender Sarah McDonnell was named the CHA Goalie of the Week following her efforts on Jan. 2-3 in which she posted a 1-0-1 record against RPI in 120:22 minutes. McDonnell has started in 16 games this season, garnering an overall record of 9-2-4 to go with a .902 save percentage and 1.84 goals against average.

The Lakers have four players with double-digit points. Freshman Rachael Smith leads the team with 16 points that includes a team-high 10 assists to go with six goals. Emily Janiga leads Mercyhurst with seven goals.

Besides Smith, Jenna Dingeldein, Sarah Hine and Paige Horton have 10 points or more. For the most part, the Mercyhurst scoring attack is pretty spread out.

Looking at the Stats
The Orange and Lakers have nearly an identical scoring offense and scoring defense. Syracuse is scoring 2.6 goals a game while Mercyhurst is scoring 2.7. Both teams are giving up exactly 2.5 goals a game.

Syracuse is averaging .4 more shots a game than Mercyhurst this season and each side has a 13.8 percent chance of scoring on the power play.

Mercyhurst spends more time in the sin bin with a 9.8 PIM compared to 6.0 from Syracuse.

The Lakers have dominated the Orange since Syracuse entered the CHA. Mercyhurst has an overall record of 28-1-3 against Syracuse. However, the Orange are 1-1-1 against the Lakers in the last three games against each other, including a 4-1 victory last season at home.

Both live video and live stats can be accessed by clicking on the links above or visiting Cuse.com.

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Syracuse University Athletics

Orange Host Mercyhurst For Shot At CHA First Place

Players Mentioned

Alysha Burriss

Emily Costales

Jenn Gilligan

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