ERIE, Pa. - Gannon's Jess Fugate scored with three seconds left in the first overtime to extend the game and Rachel DerCola ended it in the second OT frame, as the No. 10 Lady Knights dealt the No. 11 Mercyhurst College women's lacrosse team a 12-11 setback Thursday afternoon at Gannon University Field.

In a battle between two teams vying for a home playoff game in the upcoming Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament, Gannon secured home-field advantage next Tuesday when DerCola scored on an unassisted play with 1:38 remaining in the second half of sudden-victory overtime.

The sophomore midfielder's score also wiped out a valiant effort by the Lakers, who rallied in the final minute of regulation to tie the game at the buzzer, before getting the first goal of bonus time.

Freshman Anna LeGrett made it a 10-10 game when her shot with several Gannon players around her found its way past goalkeeper Margaret Maslyn with less than one second showing on the clock. Sophomore Alisha Catalino then gave the Lakers the lead, at 11-10, thanks to a backdoor feed from junior Ally Keirn at the 30-second mark of the first three-minute half.

Gannon, however, took a page out of the Lakers' book and sent the teams into sudden-victory OT when Fugate caught a long pass from Mary Eshnour in the midfield and scored with three seconds remaining.

In a see-saw battle, Mercyhurst commanded play early on by taking a 5-3 lead into halftime.

Senior Kimberly Masterton put the visitors out to a 1-0 lead 22 seconds into the game before Gannon answered back just over nine minutes later on Eshenour's first of the game. Strikes by LeGrett and Masterton restored the advantage, this time at two, nearing the 10-minute mark. Both teams then traded two goals aside in the final three minutes. Following a pair of Gannon tallies to tie the game at three, LeGrett and Keirn tickled the twine in the final 21 seconds of half.

Gannon shook off the consecutive scores in the second half, outscoring Mercyhurst 5-1 over the first 10 minutes. Keirn and Masterton broke up the run with back-to-back unassisted scores at 19:02 and 16:16.

The Lady Knights got their final goals of the half courtesy of Caitlyn Fisher and Fugate before Masterton made it a one-goal deficit at 6:00 and LeGrett tied it with .4 showing on the clock.

Mercyhurst held the upper hand in a majority of the statistical categories including shots (30-26), ground balls (41-35) and draw controls (15-12). Junior Jenny Perkins recorded 10 saves as she fell to 11-5 on the season.

Masterton led the offense with four of the team's 11 goals and posted two assists. LeGrett scored three goals, Keirn had two and an assist and Catalino struck twice. Sophomore Kayla Minner recorded one assist.

Mercyhurst, standing at 11-5 overall, 6-4 in PSAC play, will host Indiana (Pa.) in its final game of the regular season this Saturday, Apr. 23, at Gannon University Field. Game time is set for 1 p.m.