Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Women's Soccer team continues PSAC West play as they take on Slippery Rock and UPJ this week. The Lakers host Slippery Rock on Wednesday before heading to UPJ on Saturday.
The Matchups
Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock have matched up 31 times and the Lakers are 17-12-2 all-time against The Rock. The teams last met on Sept. 18, the Lakers defeated Slippery Rock 1-0 for the first time since 2009.
UPJ and Mercyhurst have played each other 11 times dating backing to 2007. The teams met on Sept. 22 and the Lakers notched their 11th straight win over the Mountain Cats by a score of 2-0.
Bounce Back Time
The Lakers played just once last week as they faced cross-town rival Gannon, Mercyhurst fell by a score of 3-1 as Amber Thomas scored the lone goal for the Lakers. Maddie Elbro made fives in cage for the Lakers.
Prior to falling to Gannon, the Lakers were on a four-game winning streaking including a 2-1 double overtime win over Edinboro. In that game, Lauren Casey scored the first goal for the Lakers while Thomas scored the game winning goal in the second overtime period. Prior to the win over the Fighting Scots the Lakers had wins over Clarion, IUP, and Cal (PA).
She is Rolling
Thomas has scored in her last three games while having six shots on goal. The Bedford, Pa. native has four goals total this season while having 14 shots. Prior to her three-game goal streak she scored against Clarion while also adding an assist.
Playoffs?!
The Lakers have an overall record of 7-4-1 and a conference record of 6-3-1 with six games remaining on the schedule all of which are PSAC West games. Mercyhurst is tied for third place with IUP with 19 points, however the Lakers currently hold the tiebreaker with IUP due to head-to-head records. Slippery Rock sits in first with 25 points and Gannon is second with 23 points. Below Mercyhurst and IUP is Edinboro who has 18 points followed by Clarion (13 points), Cal (nine points), Seton Hill and UPJ each have seven points. The top four teams from each division make the playoffs.
Scouting Slippery Rock
The Rock are 1-1-1 in their last three games which includes a loss to Clarion, a tie with UPJ, and a win over Seton Hill. Prior to those three games, Slippery Rock was on a four game winning streak dating back to their matchup with Mercyhurst. Rachel Edge leads the way for the Rock as she has nine goals and 24 total points this season. Kayla Swope has six goals and five assists to be second in goals, assists, and points. Emma Yoder has played every game in net and has made 36 saves while allowing 12 goals on 96 total shots faced.
Scouting UPJ
The Mountain Cats are 1-3-1 in their last five game as they defeated Cal 9-4 and fell to Edinboro, Gannon and Clarion as they also tied Slippery Rock. Morgan Kost has scored seven goals and added five assists, Haley Neidig is tied in points with Kost as she has six goals and seven assists this season. Three goalies have started in net for the Mountain Cats, as a team they have 64 saves this season and a .667 save percentage.
Up Next
The Lakers host Seton Hill on Oct. 27 before heading to Clarion to take on the Golden Eagles on Oct. 30.
