Among the long string of outstanding goaltenders in Mercyhurst’s college hockey history, senior Desi Clark now stands first among them as the school’s all-time winningest goalie, male or female, after today’s 6-0 victory over Boston College.
Stefanie Bourbeau paced the No. 7 Lakers (15-5-2) on the record setting afternoon by lighting up the Eagles (6-14-3) for a hat trick. That was more than enough offense for Clark, who made 18 saves in her historic 57th win.
“It was in the back of my mind during the game,” Clark said of the record. “But every game is an important game so I have to go out and do my best.”
Clark didn’t have to make many difficult saves, but she did turn away a breakaway from BC leading scorer Deborah Spillane with nine seconds remaining in the first period that could have shifted momentum. The loss was the third straight for the Eagles, who left full of respect for the Lakers.
“[The Lakers] are deep,” said BC coach Tom Mutch. “They are well coached, strong and physical…and physical in a good way. They just play hard, good hockey.”
Mercyhurst started the scoring on junior defenseman Dani Jo Lansing’s second goal in as many days at 7:13 of the first period. She hit a low slap shot from the blue line that BC goaltender Alison Quandt never saw.
The Stefanie Bourbeau show began in the first minute of the second period when the Lakers scored two shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill. Borbeau scored 28 seconds into the period on a breakaway, and then Sara McDonald scored on a nifty pass from Julia Colizza 29 seconds later.
Freshman Sherilyn Fraser added another goal late in the period when she walked in all alone from the corner and flipped the puck up and past Quandt.
The third period was all Bourbeau. She scored her second of the night on a rebound from the right side of a wide open net. She completed on the power play with three minutes left on a one timer from the point. Bourbeau couldn’t have done it without Teresa Marchese, who assisted on all three of her goals.
“Marchese just plays great,” Bourbeau said. “She makes awesome passes which makes goal scoring easy.”
The BC sweep gives Mercyhurst momentum leading into a series against its toughest CHA rival Niagara next weekend. Clark knows Niagara is playing their best hockey right now.
“Niagara are great competitors,” she said. “We had a good couple of games against them earlier, and they have been playing well since Christmas. We have a lot of confidence coming off this weekend against Boston College so it should be a good series.”
Laker coach Mike Sisti is looking forward to getting back into CHA play.
“Every game we have played against Niagara has been a spirited match,” Sisti said. “They are playing great right now. It will be a weekend where we will have to play perfectly to win.”
