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 Katrina Protopapas scored her first collegiate goal against Mercyhurst |
Jan. 13, 2007
Detroit, Mich. - #1 Mercyhurst (20-1-1, 4-0-0 CHA) erased a 3-0 Wayne State (8-14-0, 1-3-0 CHA) lead and defeated the Warriors, 7-5, in women's hockey action at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
Wayne State surprised the visitors and jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by freshman defenseman Christine Jefferson (Nepean, Ontario/Merivale) and two tallies from sophomore forward Sam Poyton (Hamilton, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres). Mercyhurst would get on the board under a minute left in the opening period on a goal by Julia Colizza.
The Lakers would knot the game at three in the second period on goals by Meghan Agosta and Valerie Chouinard. But freshman forward Katrina Protopapas (Chatham, Ontario/Bluewater Hawks) gave the hosts a 4-3 lead when she beat Laker netminder, Courtney Drennen, stick side.
Mercyhurst would score the next three goals to take a 6-4 advantage on tallies from Ashley Pendleton, Agosta and Stephanie Jones. An Ashley King (Winnipeg, Manitoba/River East Lightning) goal at the 10 minute mark of the third period gave the hosts some life and cut the deficit to one at 6-5. But the Lakers would score the final goal of the game, by Chouinard two minutes later, for the 7-5 win.
Junior goaltender Valery Turcotte (Jonquiere, Quebec/Royal Metabetchouan) was brilliant between the pipes and made 34 saves. Mercyhurst junior Laura Hosier started for the Lakers and was pulled midway in the first period after allowing three goals on seven shots. Drennen relieved her and made nine saves in 45+ minutes of work.
Mercyhurst outshot the Warriors, 41-18 and was 3-for-5 on the power play. Wayne State was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.
Mercyhurst now leads the all-time series, 28-0-2, but the five goals allowed was the most since a 5-4 triple overtime loss at Harvard in the NCAA Quarterfinals on March 19, 2005.
Wayne State ended an eight-game homestand with the games against Mercyhurst. The Warriors will hit the road for eight games, starting with a visit at Quinnipiac on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19-20.
