By Thomas Baldwin
The Mercyhurst women’s hockey team was probably thrilled to get out of town on Saturday afternoon.
Why?
Because they got the heck scared out of them by a gritty Niagara club all weekend.
But the top team in the country defeated the Purple Eagles 2-0 in a tight College Hockey America game at Dwyer Arena.
Mercyhurst improved to 3-0-1 in CHA play and 10-1-1 overall. Niagara fell to 2-2-2 in league action and 5-5-4 overall. The Lakers improved to 25-0-3 against Niagara since the Purple Eagles last defeated them on March 6, 2004.
“That was a hard-fought game that could have gone either way,” Niagara coach Chris McKenzie said. “There are always bounces in a game, and they were fortunate to get that one. I am proud of the effort from the team ... we need that every night.
“I’m happy but not satisfied,” he said of the weekend, which included Friday night’s 2-2 tie. “I don’t think the dressing room is satisfied either.”
The Lakers scored the only goal needed early in the third period.
The score came when Kelly Steadman’s slapshot from the point was saved by Niagara goaltender Jenni Bauer, but the rebound slid out to Bram at the edge of the crease, and she banged it home to give Mercyhurst a 1-0 lead at 2:56 of the third period.
“It was a rebound from a shot … I just went to the net and put it in,” Bram said of the game-winner. “It was a backhand and I just tapped it in.”
Steadman sealed the triumph with an empty-net goal with just 10.7 seconds left.
Despite still not beating the Lakers, the Purple Eagles should take some confidence away from this weekend after giving the nation’s top club and a long-time torturer all it could handle.
“I think that our season this year ... it shows compared to last season how it (confidence) has improved,” Niagara’s Jennifer MacLean said. “We think of ourselves as a winning team now, and we think we can beat these teams.”
“It’s not like we said, ‘Oh, good thing we only lost 2-0.’ That’s nothing like we want. We can beat this team.”
The Purple Eagles get another shot at the hated Lakers on January 29-30 down in Erie. And, Mercyhurst will probably not take the Purple Eagles lightly.
“I think a lot of our people came in here underestimating them,” Bram said. “They opened our eyes.”
