Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - The Niagara women’s hockey team (9-13-7; 2-4-2 CHA) battled back from behind three times against the No. 5/5 Mercyhurst Lakers (19-5-2; 5-1-2 CHA) to come out with a 3-3 draw on Saturday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Down 3-2 with twelve seconds left on the clock, sophomore forward Kristin Richards took advantage of the extra attacker and snuck one past Laker goalie Hillary Pattenden for her second of the game to even the contest at three apiece.  Richards sixth tally of the season was assisted by seniors Erica Owczarczak and Jocey Kleiber. 

Niagara netminder Sarah Moses was stellar in between the pipes, stopping 42 Mercyhurst attempts on net, including eight in extra time. 

"I liked our team's response tonight after yesterday," head coach Josh Sciba said.  "Moses gave us a chance to win and our six-on-five was great.  Mercyhurst was very tenacious and their skill level put us on our heels at times.  When we remained disciplined, we enjoy success."   

Both teams capitalized on the man-advantage as the first three goals of the contest were on the powerplay.  Senior forward Bailey Bram got Mercyhurst on the board first at the 17:47 mark of the opening period off assists from defender Molly Byrne and forward Kelley Steadman. 

Niagara evened the game in the second frame off the stick of Kleiber.  Her first goal of the season was assisted by sophomore forward Kaleigh Chippy and Owczarczak. 

The third period saw each team sound the buzzer twice, with Mercyhurst grabbing back the lead with less than two minutes played in the period.  Sophomore forward Christine Bestland grabbed her nineteenth of the season off feeds from Bram and senior Jess Jones. 

Niagara scored the first even strength goal of the game, as Richards netted her first of the game with helpers contributed by junior forward Jenna Hendrikx and senior defender Leah Whittaker.  Stephanie DeSutter gave Mercyhurst their third lead of the game, going up 3-2 with less than five minutes to play. 

Kleiber finished the weekend with a goal and an assist, while Owczarczak and Chippy each added two helpers. 

Niagara hits the road on Friday, Feb. 10 to take on Robert Morris at 7 p.m.  The Purple Eagles return to Dwyer Arena on Feb. 12 for a Sunday matchup agains the Colonials at 5 p.m.