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Marielle Parks picked up the loose puck along the boards, holding off Lauren Bellefontaine, who tried to poke it off her. Bellefontaine reached in but missed giving Parks the chance to backhand it to a wide-open Alexandria Weiss. Parks had drawn multiple defenders and cushioned the pass, and Weiss fired a wrister toward the far post.

The Syracuse defenders couldn’t get in front of the shot as it nestled in the back of the net, giving Mercyhurst a 1-0 lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the first.

Weiss’ second goal of the season started the scoring in a dominant 6-0 win for Mercyhurst (23-13-2, 11-3-2 College Hockey America) over Syracuse (10-24-2, 6-9-1 CHA). For the second time in as many days, the Lakers dominated Syracuse. With the win, Mercyhurst swept Syracuse in the best-out-of-three series in the CHA semifinals. The blowout was the final strike of Syracuse’s season.

Six minutes later, Mercyhurst doubled its lead. Thea Johansson skated and led the break for the Lakers from the wing, she crossed the blue line with Kambel Beacum trying to stay in front. As Johansson accelerated, Beacum didn’t adjust quickly enough as Johansson blew by her. The freshman forward held the puck on the outside with her backhand avoiding Beacum. As the angle closed on a shooting opportunity, Johansson flicked the puck with the back of her stick off Arielle DeSmet, deflecting it into the net to give Mercyhurst a 2-0 lead.

Syracuse struggled to stop Merceyhurst’s attacks throughout, letting up multiple goals in every period of the loss. The Lakers recorded 16 shots on target in the first period, compared to just three from the Orange. Even with DeSmet recording 31 saves, the Orange were overmatched in every way possible.

Mercyhurst poured it on in the second period, starting with a power play goal from Sara Boucher to make it 3-0. Three minutes later the Lakers caught Syracuse on a break. Chantal Ste-Croix slid the puck across to Lillian Perrault, who squeezed between two Syracuse defenders to poke home Mercyhurst’s fourth goal.

The Orange pushed to get back into the game, led by Bellefontaine who recorded a team-high five shots on goal. Rayla Clemons and Hannah Johnson both had four while Madison Primeau had three. None of Syracuse’s shots found the back of the net, as Ena Nystrøm recorded 20 saves and her seventh shutout of the season.

Johannson scored her second goal of the game, latching onto a loose puck. Beating the Syracuse defenders down the ice, the freshman poked it past DeSmet in net, putting Mercyhurst up 5-0. The Lakers finished their output as Grace Nelles scored the sixth goal of the game with less than three minutes remaining.

In the end, Syracuse didn’t do enough to defend their crown as CHA champions, falling to the team it beat in the championship last season.

Published on February 25, 2023 at 6:00 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22