ERIE, Pa. – The top-ranked Mercyhurst College women's hockey team resumes College Hockey America play this weekend with a two-game series at Syracuse on Friday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. at the Tennity Ice Pavilion.

Mercyhurst closed out its non-conference schedule last weekend, going 1-0-1 against then-No. 4 Clarkson to extend its unbeaten streak to 13 games and finish 13-1-2 against competition outside of the CHA. The Lakers posted a 6-3 victory in Friday's game before skating to a 5-5 tie with the Golden Knights on Saturday.

Junior captain Vicki Bendus orchestrated the offense with seven points, scoring three goals and adding four assists. With Friday's game tied at 1-1, Bendus was part of the next four scores with a goal and three assists, including a helper on the game-winner. The next afternoon, she contributed two goals, including the game-tying marker, and an assist. She now has points in the past five games and 17 of the 21 games played this season.

Sophomore Bailey Bram added three goals and two assists to extend her point-streak to 10 games while junior Jesse Scanzano tacked in a goal and three assists, stretching her streak to five games with at least a point. Additionally, Bram now has points in 18 of the team's 21 games.

As a team, the Lakers outshot Clarkson 79-59 and held them 3-for-15 on the power play.

Playing their first CHA opponent in over a month, the Lakers put their 13-game unbeaten streak and first-place league record on the line when they face the Orange for the just fifth and sixth times in program history.

Mercyhurst went 4-0-0 against the first-year program last season, outscoring them 25-5 and converting 9-for-29 on the power play.

Syracuse, however, has come a long way since then, going 13-10-1 through 24 games this year and cracking the top-10 on two different occasions. Despite the one-year improvement, the Orange has to get back on track after suffering a two-game sweep at the hands of Quinnipiac last weekend. Syracuse dropped both games by a goal, falling 4-3 in overtime on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday.

Led by three players with 11 goals apiece, Syracuse has averaged 2.88 goals per game – almost half a goal better than last season. Freshman Isabel Menard leads the team with 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points, followed by junior Julie Rising with 11 goals and 12 assists and junior Stefanie Marty with 11 goals and 11 assists. On defense, New Hampshire transfer and senior Lucy Schoedel has seen a majority of the action, accumulating a 13-10-1 record to go along with a .914 save percentage and a 2.35 goals against average.

Following this weekend, the Lakers return home to face CHA foe Niagara on Friday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.