ERIE Pa.– The RMU women’s hockey team had the opportunity to advance and sweep Mercyhurst after the 5-0 domination Friday afternoon.

However, the Lakers would not go down without a fight in Saturday’s Game 2 as Mercyhurst forced a Game 3 with a 5-2 win over the Colonials.

Graduate student Emma Gorski got the nod as the starting goalie after Maggie Hatch earned her first career shutout the day before.

Head coach Logan Bittle praised Gorski after posting 38 saves on 41 shots despite the loss.

“She was great, especially in the first period,” Bittle said. “That game could have easily been 4 or 5-0 in the first period. So, a lot of credit to [her]. She played so strong, just like she did the last few weekends for us, and we had no doubt about it. She did a great job.”

The Lakers were looking for revenge early, having everything swinging in their favor in the first period. The Lakers scored two goals and jumped on all of the mistakes the Colonials made in their own end.

“I think we were a little jumpy,” Bittle said. “That smooth play that we had yesterday was missing. [Mercyhurst] came out and pressured, pressured hard. It took us a little bit to get caught up to the pace. That’s a lesson learned. You can’t take a period off of playoffs. The first period wasn’t good enough. The girls know that.”

However, in the second period, the Colonials returned from the locker room as a different team, scoring two goals of their own from freshman Alaina Giampietro and Lindsey Smolen.

The Colonials also won the puck battles in their zone to tie the score after 40 minutes.

“The response was fantastic. It gave us a chance to win a game,” Bittle said. “Unfortunately, that first period pretty much did us in, and that’s a lesson learned. We’ll get better from it.”

Vanessa Upson had two goals, including the game-winner and three assists to eclipse 100 points in her career in the win.

With the series split, tomorrow’s rubber match will decide who will be the other finalist in the CHA Championship Game next Saturday. Penn State has already advanced with their sweep over RIT and will host the game since they are the higher seed.

“We’re in a good spot. We’re in the playoffs,” Bittle said. “There’s a couple of teams that aren’t here. We’re sad about today’s loss here. But it changed. We need to shower and stretch and look forward to tomorrow.”

Tomorrow’s game will take place in Erie with a 2 p.m. puck drop.