ERIE, Pa. - The No. 22 Mercyhurst women's lacrosse team will play their first game in exactly 365 days when they open up the 2021 season with a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division showdown with crosstown rival Gannon University on Thursday afternoon.
Game Information
Opponent - Gannon University Golden Knights
Date - Thursday, March 11
Time - 4:00 pm
Location - Erie, Pa. (McConnell Family Stadium)
Series History - Gannon leads, 15-11 / Last Lakers Win: 16-4 on 4/2/19 (home) / Last Knights Win: 11-8 on 4/24/13 (home)
Fan Statement - Fans will not be allowed at McConnell Family Stadium
Live Stats
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Scouting the Lakers (0-0, 0-0 PSAC)
Preseason Poll
Mercyhurst comes into this season as the favorite in the PSAC West after posting a 3-1 start to the 2020 campaign, before it was stopped. The Lakers nabbed five of the seven available first-place votes to claim the top spot. They were followed by Seton Hill and Indiana (Pa.) who each earned a first-place selection. The rest of the west division in order went Lock Haven, Slippery Rock, Gannon and Edinboro. On the other side the of the state the fifth-ranked team in the land West Chester took four first-place votes with the other three going to No. 10 East Stroudsburg. That duo was followed by Bloomsburg, Millersville, Shippensburg, Kutztown and Shepherd.
Schedule Outlook
Due to ongoing pandemic the Lakers are limited to just two non-conference games which will both take place on the same day, Sunday, March 14 beginning at 12pm when they take on Walsh, before squaring off with D'Youville. The rest of the 2021 slate is made up of nothing but PSAC West opposition as they play Edinboro, Gannon, IUP, Lock Haven, Seton Hill and Slippery Rock two times each. The top three seeds in each division will advance to the PSAC Tournament with the semi-finals and final taking place at the highest remaining seed in the East.
Offense
Mercyhurst brings back leading goal scorer
Julia Rescott who had a team-high 12 goals on a team-best 27 shots last season. The quartet of
Paige Cocina,
Marissa Comerate,
Payton Cook and
Gina Perna each notched three goals in 2020 and combined for 14 points.
Molly Meegan,
Rachel Plumley and
Torie Sullivan also found the back of the net. Upperclassmen like
Lauren Cain,
Megan Fitzpatrick,
Victoria Gottorff,
Heather Greenway,
Rachel Hirst and
Sarah Kaska will look to increase their contributions this year.
Defense
The Lakers will look to replace All-American
Kira Kolb who led the team in draw controls (18), groundballs (13), and caused turnovers (11). A pair of players will look to shoulder the load at least in the defensive half as
Beca McGwin and
Mackenzie Murphy combined for 15 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers. Comerate will also put work in on that side of the field as she racked up eight draw controls, three groundballs and forced three turnovers. Players like
Erin Cox,
Kiana Francis,
McKenzie Galvin,
Caitlin Gonter,
Anna Kenyon,
Hailey McCarty and
Kenzie Schroeder will be expected to play more minutes and help to replace the production of Kolb.
Goaltending
Between the pipes once again for the Green and Blue is the duo of
Kaitlyn Lippert and
Raelyn Tiberio. Lippert started all four games in the 2020 season posting a 3-1 mark with a 10.00 goals against average and a .417 save percentage making 25 stops, while facing 78 shots. Tiberio saw action in just one game seeing a dozen shots turning away two shots giving up five goals.
Newcomers to the Roster
Mercyhurst has added two transfers to their 2021 roster in
Christina Judy and
Julia Ruscio. Judy spent last year at Cleveland State University, before coming to Erie. She was a multi-sport athlete at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin High School. Ruscio begins her career with the Lakers after playing three seasons at the University of Bridgeport where she was a major offensive force racking up 83 goals and 15 helpers on 169 shots. She was also solid at the circle winning 111 draws. True rookies
Grace Gajan,
Kate Marafioti,
Gabby McGinn,
Meghan Nasman,
Miranda Nicolosi,
Dylan Rawleigh,
Emma Shipton,
Brenna Smith and Stephanie Vanriper will all try to find their role in coach
Kevin Cooke side.
Stat Pack (2020 season)
The Lakers last year averaged 12.75 goals per game on 28.8 shots, while allowing just 10.00 goals and 22.5 shots. Mercyhurst only got 17 free-position attempts notching eight goals for a .471 conversion percentage. They held a slim edge at the draw circle winning 49 times to the opponents 48. Their clear game was solid as well going 62-71 which meant they converted 87.3% of the time.
Inside the Castle (0-0, 0-0 PSAC)
Gannon got six games in last season before things were brought to a halt posting a 4-2 mark overall and an 0-1 record in conference. Erie native Rachel Tufts returns to key the Golden Knights attack after picking up a team-high 22 goals and 27 points last year. Alli Jacobs added nine points as well thanks to eight goals on 16 shots (12 on goal). After the departure of Amberlynn Kegler and Eileen Kehrig, Tufts is also the returning leader in groundballs (9), caused turnovers (8) and draw controls (22). Cheyenne Jess is back between the pipes after making all six starts in 2020 posting a 12.18 goals against average with a .466 save percentage making 54 stops. As a team they averaged 13.00 goals on 29.7 shots per game. The Knights went 27-47 on free position attempts and 90-116 in their clears for a .776 percentage. Jennifer Pawlowski is starting her second season at the head of the Gannon castle.
On Deck - Double-Header Sunday
Mercyhurst will have their home opener when they play a pair of non-conference games on Sunday against Walsh and D'Youville. The Lakers and Cavaliers will begin at noon, before the Green and Blue take on the Saints at 4pm.
