SPORTS
PAGE 14
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Women’s hockey regular season ends By Sydney Dietz Sports editor
Over the weekend, the Women’s hockey team played their last two games of the season. Both games were played against Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. This was the third time the Lady Lakers fought against the Lindenwood Lions this season. The Lakers were able to win the first game, but unfortunately the Lions pulled out a win for the second. The first game was played on Friday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m. The Lakers started the scoring early with sophomore forward Sara Boucher scoring the first goal. Not long after, freshman forward Vanessa Upton scored her 18th goal of the season. Both goals were scored within the first four minutes of the game. Boucher scored her second goal of the night eight minutes after her first goal. This goal resulted in a score of 3-0, with the Lakers in the lead. The scoring in the first period continued with graduate student forward Kristy Pidgeon obtaining her 11th goal of the season. The score was 4-0 going into the second period. The Lakers out shot the Lions with shots on goal being 18-13.
Hurst Athletics photo
Sophomore defenseman Jersey Phillips looking for the puck in a game against Lindenwood University.
Despite the Lakers momentum going into the second period, Lindenwood got their first goal of the night. The Lakers were unable to score any points in the second period. However, the scoring drought was over in the third period. Boucher scored her third goal of the night at the 4:18 mark, resulting in a hat trick for Boucher and a score of 5-1. “I was really excited scoring that third goal,” Boucher said. “It’s always an amazing feeling scoring a hat trick, especially in big games. My teammates really helped make that happen.”
The final goal of the night was scored by junior defenseman Jordan Morlock. The final score of the game was 6-2, with Mercyhurst getting the win. Junior goaltender Jenna Silvonen made 26 saves out of 28 shots. The second, and last game of the 2021-22 season was played on Saturday, Feb. 19, at 12:10 p.m. The first period ended with a score of 0-0. Silvonen was in net, and saved all four shots taken by the Lions. In the second period, co-captain graduate student Alexa Vas-
ko scored the first goal of the game. Only one minute later, Bouchar scored her fourth goal of the weekend resulting in a 2-0 score in favor of Mercyhurst. This goal gave Bouchar 19 goal points, tying freshman forward Vanessa Upton. The Lions started their scoring streak at the 14:33 mark in the second period. They scored three goals making the score 2-3 at the end of the second period. The Lions scored one more goal in the third period, and ended up with the lead as the final buzzer sounded. The final score of the
game was 4-3 in Lindenwood’s favor. Although the regular season is over for the Women’s hockey team, they will still continue to play hockey. They will compete in the College Hockey America Championship. The Lady Lakers will be traveling to Syracuse, New York, for the annual CHA Postseason Tournament. The Lakers have a Bye in the first round. “I’m proud of the success we have had so far this season, but are not done yet. We have came along way since the beginning of the year and I can’t wait for what we will bring this weekend at the CHA championship,” said Boucher. When asked what the team will do to prepare for the first CHA game Boucher said, “We’ve been doing a lot of things right as a team over the course of the season. In preparation we are going to continue to build on these things to gain momentum going into this weekend. Personally, I’m going to make sure I sleep lots and stay hydrated over the week so I can preform my best.” The Lakers will be the third seed and will play against Penn State in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 25, at 4 p.m.
Olympian Erin Johnson makes history By Bella Lee Staff writer
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics started on Friday, Feb. 4, and just ended on Sunday, Feb. 20. This year’s Winter Olympics saw many triumphs, from Shaun White competing at his fifth and final Olympics to Ireen Wüst becoming the most decorated speed skater of all time. However, one other speed skater was also able to make history, and that was Erin Jackson. The last time that the USA won a gold medal in the women’s 500-meter speed skating race was way back in 1994.
Jackson, however, was able to claim victory with a run of only 37.04 seconds. This made her not only the first American woman to win speed skating gold in nearly 20 years, but the first Black woman to ever do it for Team USA. Shockingly, Jackson, who made her Olympic debut in Pyeongchang in 2018, almost missed her chance to make it to the Olympics this year. During the trials, she stumbled, putting her in jeopardy for missing the competition. However, her savior came in the form of Brittany Bowe, who sacrificed her spot on the Olympic team so that Jackson could have her
chance at chasing Olympic gold. Bowe called it, “the right thing to do.” “Just for her to do something like this for me, it’s amazing,” Jackson stated. “I’m just incredibly grateful. I’m really humbled, and she’s just an amazing person.” Jackson hails from Ocala, Florida, dubbed the “Horse Riding Capital of the World” and pretty much the last place you would expect a speed skater to come from. Jackson did not even make her start with speed skating, surprisingly; she used to be a world-renowned incline skater who had won 12 world championship
Fox News photo
United States competitor, Erin Johnson skates after competing in a 500-meter speed skating race in the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
medals and 47 national titles. In fact, her first time stepping onto the ice was just months before the Pyeongchang Olympics were slated to begin. Jackson qualified for the Pyeongchang Olympics after just four months of rigorous training. “I lived and trained in Salt Lake City, which is the fastest ice in the world, so realistically if you’re not going to get the time in Salt Lake City, you’re not going to get it in Milwaukee, which is where we had the Olympic trials,” said Jackson. With her appearance in Pyeongchang, Jackson also became the first Black woman to make the USA speed skating team. While she finished 24th in the Olympics four years ago, she was able to quickly rise through the ranks and take gold this year. Before Jackson, the speed skater making headlines was Shani Davis, who at the 2006 Turin Olympics became the first Black athlete to win any individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics. It is almost with total certainty that he is very proud of the history that Jackson made at the Beijing Olympics. The USA ought to be proud of her capability that she will most certainly carry in the future Olympics.
LET’S GO, LAKERS!
Feb. 26, Erie, PA @ 7:05 p.m.: Men’s Hockey vs. Canisius College Feb. 26, Erie, PA @ 3 p.m.: Men’s Basketball vs. Slippery Rock Feb. 27, West Chester, PA @ 12 p.m.: Women’s Lacrosse vs West Chester
