ERIE, Pa. – Senior captain Meghan Agosta scored two goals and dished out two assists to lead the No. 4/5 Mercyhurst College women's hockey team to a 5-2 victory over College Hockey America foe Syracuse on Friday evening in the first game of the team's Skate for the Cure series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

The Lakers, wearing pink jerseys in honor of the event, bounce back from their fourth loss of the season to move to 15-4-0 overall and 6-0-0 in CHA play.

Agosta's four-point effort marked her 10th straight multi-point game and moved her season point total to 49, ranking her first on the team and tops in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey. Her two goals also helped the Lakers achieve their 16th game of four or more goals this season, with freshman Christine Bestland and juniors Kelley Steadman and Meghan Corbett each adding a score.

Freshman Christie Cicero and junior Pamela Zgoda combined for five assists in the game. Cicero recorded a season-high three assists while Zgoda added a pair of helpers.

Mercyhurst jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Agosta and Steadman. Agosta netted her 20th of the season just 2:30 into the frame thanks to a cross-crease feed from Cicero that she backhanded past an outstretched Jessica Drinkwater. Steadman made it a 2-0 game on a short-handed opportunity at the 18:30 mark.

Syracuse got on the board with 23 seconds remaining in the frame. Holly Carrie-Mattimoe cut the deficit in half when she took a pass from ex-Laker Ashley Cockell and deflected it past junior Hillary Pattenden on a 5-on-3 power play.

After the break, the Lakers increased their lead to two by scoring the only goal of the second period. Bestland made it a 3-1 game when she took a highlight reel assist from Agosta and buried it past Drinkwater on the power play. Agosta chased down a Syracuse player on a breakaway, stole the puck between the circles and streaked back into Orange territory to set up Bestland.

Mercyhurst then closed out the game by outscoring the Orange 2-1 in the third. Following a Syracuse goal at the 8:18 mark, Corbett scored her second goal in as many games on the power play to make it 4-2, while Agosta put the finishing touches on the game, finding the back of the net on a breakaway with 4:10 to play.

Mercyhurst held a 41-18 advantage in shots for the game and got 16 saves from Pattenden, who moved her record to 14-4-0 on the season. The Lakers also finished the game 2-for-6 on the power play. Drinkwater, meanwhile, posted 36 stops for the Orange.

Both teams close out the two-game series on Saturday, Jan. 8 with a 2 p.m. contest at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.