April 28, 2007

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst women's lacrosse team battled back from a three-goal deficit but lost to rival Gannon 8-7 on a late goal Saturday at Tullio Field. Breanna Haggerty had a hand in six of Mercyhurst's seven goals, finishing with three goals and three assists.

The two teams traded goals for much of the first half and the game was tied at 3-3 after Mercyhurst scores by Courtney Olevnik, Haggerty and Kate Smith. Gannon, though, took momentum into halftime by scoring twice in the final 21 seconds for a 5-3 lead.

Neither team could dent the scoreboard in the first eight minutes of the second half until Gannon's Shannon Pagano posted her third goal of the game with 21:55 to play. While that goal could have broken the backs of the Lakers, Mercyhurst bounced back quickly. Haggerty scored for the second time with 19:17 remaining and Lauren Smith followed up with a goal 35 seconds later to make it 6-5.

Haggerty completed the hat trick and tied the game with 15:48 to play before Jessie Horeth put the Lakers ahead for the first time 46 seconds later.

The Mercyhurst defense continued to shut down a strong Gannon offense but the Knights finally broke through to tie the game on a Colleen Dixon goal with 4:07 to play. The game appeared to be headed to overtime but Gannon's Melissa Hill picked up a pass from Pagano late in the contest and buried a shot with 10 seconds remaining to give the Knights the win.

Gannon outshot Mercyhurst 38-22 for the game but the Lakers held a 20-17 advantage in ground ball. Mercyhurst keeper Maeve McGoff made 11 saves, helping to shut down Gannon's attack.

Gannon improves to 12-4 on the season, while Mercyhurst falls to 6-5. The Lakers host Presbyterian Sunday at 11 a.m. to complete their season.