WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- The 21st-ranked Mercyhurst women's lacrosse team defeated No. 14 East Stroudsburg, 15-12, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal on Friday at West Chester and ultimately secured its fifth consecutive appearance in the PSAC Tournament finals. The Lakers are the three-seed while ESU was the two-seed.
Kristin Anderson had four goals and one assist while
Taylor Izzo chipped in with three goals and three assists for the Lakers (13-5), who trailed only once when ESU held a 1-0 lead.
Grace Lawson added three goals.
Angelina Simon and
Emma Hubert contributed two goals apiece.
Lacey Netti also had a goal and
Torie Sullivan made one assist.
Mercyhurst dominated the draw-control department, snagging 21 draws to the Warriors' eight.
Kira Kolb led the way with 10 DCs while Anderson picked up eight.
Raelyn Tiberio was the winning goalie, recording 10 saves.
After falling behind 1-0, the Lakers had three straight scores, including two by Lawson. East Stroudsburg (13-3) responded by tying the game before back-to-back goals by Anderson gave the Lakers a 5-3 advance. MU led the rest of the way from there.
Mercyhurst took a 6-4 lead into halftime and later went on a 4-0 run to widen the gap to 11-6. Izzo had two goals and one assist during that stretch.
However, the Warriors had another answer, getting four consecutive tallies of their own. Chessie Rahmer had two goals and Bailey McMaster put in two others as ESU trimmed the Mercyhurst lead to 11-10.
Simon and Netti had goals 28 seconds apart, pushing the Mercyhurst lead to 13-10, and East Stroudsburg never pulled within one goal after that.
Rahmer was the leader for ESU, finishing with four goals and four caused turnovers. McMaster had three goals and goalie Tatyana Petteway totaled seven saves.
East Stroudsburg held a 36-28 shot advantage and 21-13 edge in groundballs.
The Lakers will play their next game on Sunday when they take on sixth-ranked West Chester (18-0), which is the top-seed and PSAC Tournament host.
Mercyhurst and WCU have met in each of the last three PSAC Tournaments; the Lakers have won all three times, including once in the finals. Two semifinal meetings were decided in overtime and double-overtime.
In its four straight PSAC final appearances, the Lakers are 1-3.
