ERIE, PA – For the second straight day, the RIT women's hockey team (6-7-3, 1-4-1 CHA) fell to No. 8 Mercyhurst University (12-2-1, 5-1-0 CHA), once again by a score of 4-1 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
Mercyhurst scored once in the first period, twice in the second, and once early in the third to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) scored RIT's lone goal with 4:47 left in regulation to break the Mercyhurst shutout.
 
Emily Janiga led the Lakers with a goal and two assists, while Megan Whiddon added a goal and an assist. Taylor Accursi and Kirsten Miller also scored. In goal, Amanda Makela made 14 saves.
 
Mercyhurst out-shot RIT, 27-15, although the shots were 14-13 Lakers over the final two periods. RIT was 0-for-7 with the man-advantage, while Mercyhurst was 1-5. RIT goaltender Jetta Rackleff (Bend, OR/Summit) started for the second straight game, stopping 23 shots to take the loss.
 
Despite strong play from Rackleff, RIT was out-shot 13-2, and trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes of play. Rackleff robbed Mercyhurst's Brooke Hartwick just 5:09 in on a partial breakaway to keep the game scoreless. Just 15 seconds later, Mercyhurst took the lead, as Whiddon fired home a cross-ice feed from Sarah Robello past Rackleff, who had no chance on the goal.
 
That was just the third first period goal allowed by the Tigers in 16 games this season.
 
The Lakers broke the game open with a pair of second period goals to lead 3-0 after two periods. At the 3:39 mark, Janiga picked up her 100th career point, slamming in a rebound on the power-play after Rackleff made the initial save on Robello.
 
Marissa Maugeri (Ajax, Ontario/Durham West Lightning) had a great chance for the Tigers 7:25 in, finding herself all alone in front. She tried to go to the backhand, but Makela slid across and made a great save, keeping it 2-0 Lakers.
 
Accursi made it 3-0 Lakers at the 16:11 mark, pushing in a rebound for her second goal of the season. At the 1:48 mark of the third period, Miller scored her first collegiate goal to up the Lakers lead to 4-0.
 
Payerl would snap Makela's shutout bid with 4:47 left in regulation, right after a RIT power-play ended. RIT kept the pressure in the Mercyhurst zone. Maugeri fired a shot that was blocked, but the carom came right to Payerl in the slot, as her slap shot eluded Makela for her second goal of the season. Darcy Henderson (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) also tallied her first collegiate assist on the goal.

Yesterday, the Lakers scored three second period goals en route to a 4-1 win. Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) scored RIT's lone goal. Mercyhurst leads the all-time series between the two schools, 9-2. RIT went 2-3 against the Lakers last season, including a 2-1 win in the CHA Championship behind a career-high 62 saves from Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs). RIT and Mercyhurst will meet at the Gene Polisseni Center on Feb. 6-7. 2015.
 
RIT is right back in action next weekend with a pair of non-conference contests at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Friday's contest starts at 7 p.m., while Saturday's game gets underway at 4 p.m.