Storylines
- The Lindenwood women's ice hockey team has its inaugural College Hockey America (CHA) series this weekend at home against No. 5 Mercyhurst. Game one is set for Friday at 7 p.m. and game two will be Saturday at 2 p.m.
- The Lady Lions are one of three newcomers in the CHA in 2012-13, joining Penn State and RIT. Returning members of the conference are Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, and Syracuse.
- Lindenwood is 0-6-0 overall on the season. Mercyhurst is 8-1-1 overall and 2-0-0 in CHA action.
- The Lady Lions have opened the season with a difficult schedule. Counting this week's games, all eight contests have been against teams that have been nationally ranked or receiving votes in the national polls at one point during this season.
- All six of Lindenwood's previous games have come against teams out of the WCHA, the conference which has produced every national championship team since 2000.
- Mercyhurst is the most dominating team in the CHA's history. It has won at least a share of every regular season title since the conference was founded in 2002-03. It has an all-time conference record of 114-5-9.
- Mercyhurst has won three straight contests entering this weekend, including a home sweep over Minnesota State last week.
- Mercyhurst is 2-0-0 this season against new members of the CHA. It opened the season with a 6-2 and 7-0 series sweep over RIT.
- Lindenwood is 0-4-0 all-time against Mercyhurst. Last season, the Lady Lions fell 7-0 and 14-1 in Wentzville. Mercyhurst won both games on its home ice by scores of 9-0 and 7-2.
- All three goals that Lindenwood scored against Mercyhurst last season was on the power play.
Alyssa West and
Alison Wickenheiser each had two points against the Lakers.
- Lindenwood is 0-9-0 all-time against nationally-ranked teams. Two of those games were this season when the Lady Lions fell 7-2 and 9-1 versus then No. 3 Wisconsin.
A Look Back At Minnesota State
- Lindenwood had two of its best defensive efforts of the season against Minnesota State. The Lady Lions allowed seven goals in the series, with just three being even-strength goals.
- Lindenwood had two of its highest shot totals of the season in the series, but could only generate one goal out of 51 shots.
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Nicole Hensley played all 120 minutes in goal against Minnesota State. She stopped 92.1 percent of the shots she faced against the Mavericks. Hensley allowed just three goals in the first two periods in the series.
- Lindenwood was trailing by just one goal entering the third period of both games, but were outscored 2-0 each time in the final period.
Lindenwood Notes
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Nicole Hensley enters play this week leading the CHA with 235 saves. She is fourth with a .904 save percentage. Only two NCAA Division I goalies have stopped more shots this season.
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Brett Lobreau and
Kendra Broad have each recorded a point in the last two series.
- Last year's leader in points,
Alison Wickenheiser, leads the team this season with three points. Four players have recorded two on the year.
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Lyndsay Kirkham has a team-high two goals. Both goals have come on the power play. She has scored her two goals this season on just 10 shots on goal.
- The Lady Lions are still a very young team with 13 of the 23 players being a freshman or sophomore. Over 70 percent of the team's points this season have come from players in their first two seasons of college. Included in that are two goals from freshman
Lyndsay Kirkham and one assist from freshman
Chloe Williams.
- Lindenwood has cut down its penalties the last three games. In the first three contests, it had 26 penalties for 63 minutes. In the last three games, the Lady Lions have 12 penalties for 24 minutes.
- Lindenwood's defense has been much improved this season. Through six games last year against similar opponents, the Lady Lions were allowing 8.8 goals and 59.0 shots a game. This year, the team is allowing 5.7 goals and 51.7 shots a game.
- Senior
Brett Lobreau is the team's captain for the second straight year.
Allysson Arcibal is an assistant captain for the second time, and
Alyssa West is an assistant captain for the first time.
CHA Notes
- Lindenwood was selected fifth in the CHA preseason coaches poll. Mercyhurst topped the poll, followed by Robert Morris, Syracuse, RIT, Lindenwood, and Penn State.
- Mercyhurst is the lone nationally-ranked team out of the CHA. The Lakers are No. 5 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and USCHO polls.
About Mercyhurst
- Mercyhurst ranks fourth in NCAA Division I with 4.70 goals a game. The Lakers are ninth in scoring defense by allowing 2.00 goals a game. The team's eight wins are the second-most in the nation.
- Christine Bestland leads the team with 18 assists and 24 points. Emily Janiga is the team's leading goal scorer with nine.
- Stephanie Ciampa and Amanda Makela have split starts in goal. Ciampa is 5-0-0 with a 1.40 GAA and a .934 save percentage. Makela is 3-1-1 with a 2.56 GAA and a .897 save percentage.
- Head coach of Mercyhurst is Michael Sisti. He is in his 14th season at the school and he has a career mark of 342-93-30.
