ERIE, Pa. – Senior Molly Meegan had a career-high five points aided by her first collegiate hat trick as the No. 25 Mercyhurst women's lacrosse team held off a gallant effort from visiting Slippery Rock University by a score of 13-11 on Saturday afternoon at Saxon Stadium in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division play.
 
Scoring came at a snail's pace early on as it took 3:34 before Emily Benham put a shot by Kaitlyn Lippert for the 1-0 edge.  The Rock made it 2-0 with 18:27 left in the first period thanks to Jamie DiCarlo.  Mercyhurst finally dented the scoreboard with Rachel Hirst tallying unassisted, before DiCarlo notched her second to push the lead to 3-1.  The Lakers then went on a 4-0 run as Meegan buried a pair and Julia Ruscio cashed in twice giving the Green and Blue the 5-3 advantage.  Sam Barnhart wrapped up the scoring in the half with 2:19 remaining leaving the visitors down 5-4 at halftime.
 
Payton Cook picked up the first marker of half number two as Meegan set her up for the women-down tally after Paige Cocina was assessed a yellow card.  Slippery Rock stormed back cashing in three times thanks to Emily Mox, Charleigh Rondeau and DiCarlo to reclaim a slim 7-6 edge with 17:06 to go.  The two teams then traded goals with Hirst and Benham scoring for their respective sides to make it 8-7 at the 14:37 mark.  After Meegan won the ensuing draw control Sarah Kaska hit her cutting across the circle for the equalizer and then Cocina stuck the rock in the cage for the 9-8 lead.  The Green and Blue added to their advantage as Marissa Comerate cashed in a free-position attempt and Cook finished off a feed by Victoria Gottorff extending the margin 11-8.  However, the visitors would not be denied netting the next three markers to get level 11-11 still with a good amount of time remaining.  Cocina tallied from the 8m arc for the 12-11 lead, followed by Ruscio closing out the scoring on the afternoon at 13-11. 
 
Team Stat Pack
Shot Attempts - Hurst, 24 / Rock, 28 
Shots on Goal - Hurst, 17 / Rock, 22
Clears - Hurst, 15-18 / Rock, 15-19
Draw Controls - Hurst, 12 / Rock, 14
Ground Balls - Hurst, 15 / Rock, 11
Turnovers - Hurst, 17 / Rock, 14
Free-Position Attempts - Hurst, 2-3 / Rock, 1-5

Mercyhurst Individual Stat Leaders
Points – Meegan (5), Ruscio (3)
Goals – Meegan and Ruscio (3), Cocina, Cook and Hirst (2)
Assists – Meegan (2), Gottorff and Kaska (1)
Draw Controls – Ruscio (4), Meegan (3), Cocina and Comerate (2)
Saves - Lippert (11)

Slippery Rock Individual Stat Leaders
Goals – DiCarlo (3) 
Draw Controls – Benham (7)
Saves – O'Rourke (4)

Postseason Outlook
With the win the Lakers are now 5-2 in the PSAC West and sit two games behind division leading Seton Hill who is 6-0 and currently holds a head-to-head win over the Lakers.  The third seed at the moment is IUP at 3-3, the Hawks also have a win over the Green and Blue with the rematch coming in the season finale at Saxon.

On Deck 
The Lakers will look to begin the revenge tour when they travel to Greensburg for a massive contest with Seton Hill on Saturday afternoon at 1pm.