ERIE, Pa. – Senior
Payton Cook and junior
Rachel Hirst each netted a hat trick and junior keeper
Kaitlyn Lippert posted her fifth consecutive double-digit save outing as the Mercyhurst women's lacrosse team knocked off the visiting IUP Crimson Hawks on Wednesday afternoon by a final of 15-12 at Saxon Stadium. For Hirst it was her first collegiate hat trick.
Mercyhurst wasted no time in getting the scoring started as
Julia Ruscio claimed the opening draw and fired the first shot of the game past Kelly Macnamara just 26-seconds in. Jordan Kulp made it 1-1, before Ruscio setup Cook for her first and
Gabby McGinn hit Cook for marker number two and a 3-1 lead with 18:59 to go. The visitors went on a 4-0 run in the middle of the period as Chantal Jimenez and Katie Hibinger each cashed in free-position attempts, while Leah Hunter as well as Kulp tallied during the run of play to grab a 5-3 edge at the 17:26 mark. Mercyhurst responded in a big way with Hirst starting a three-goal Lakers charge with the other goals coming from
Molly Meegan and
Victoria Gottorff to nudge the host in front 6-5 still with 10:45 to go. Off the ensuing draw IUP tied things up through Sarah Reustle. The tie was short-lived however with
Julia Rescott and
Marissa Comerate making it 8-6. Hunter finished off an 8m chance to pull within 8-7, but Lippert would make two more stops in the half to keep the guests off the board while Gottorff and
Paige Cocina scored in the final minute for the 10-7 advantage through 30-minutes.
Lippert was called into action twice in a 24-second span early in half number two denying Reustle and Jimenez. It would take 3:48 before Kulp would cut the deficit to 10-8. Just about four minutes later Hirst buried her second of the contest to stretch the margin to 11-8. The Crimson Hawks were not going to go away quietly however as Kayte Zeiler (2) and Hunter tallied three straight times to pull even for the first time since it was 5-5 at 11-11 with just under 20-minutes to play. After Ruscio won the next draw control the Green and Blue finally capitalized off of three consecutive free-position shots with Cook firing the rock home for the 12-11 edge. Rescott made it 13-11 with her 29, prior to Ruscio netting goal number 26 of the campaign for a 14-11 lead still with 13:07 remaining. Each side would score just one more time with Kulp picking up the marker for the Hawks, while Hirst completed her hat trick for the 15-12 final.
Team Stat Pack
Shot Attempts - Hurst, 30 / IUP, 36
Shots on Goal - Hurst, 24 / IUP, 23
Clears - Hurst, 14-15 / IUP, 12-14
Draw Controls - Hurst, 19 / IUP, 10
Ground Balls - Hurst, 17 / IUP, 17
Turnovers - Hurst, 18 / IUP, 12
Free-Position Attempts - Hurst, 2-6 / IUP, 4-9
Mercyhurst Individual Stat Leaders
Points – Cook, Hirst, Rescott and Ruscio (3)
Goals – Cook and Hirst (3), Gottorff, Rescott and Ruscio (2)
Assists – McGinn, Meegan, Rescott and Ruscio (1)
Draw Controls – Ruscio (11), Cocina (5), Comerate (2), Meegan (1)
Saves - Lippert (11)
Indiana (Pa.) Individual Stat Leaders
Goals – Kulp (4), Hunter (3)
Draw Controls – Reustle and Zeiler (4)
Saves – Macnamara (8)
On Deck: Postseason Here We Come!
With win the Lakers have secured the No. 2 seed on the West side of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament and will host either IUP or Lock Haven on Saturday at Saxon Stadium. The time for that game is still to be announced. The Crimson Hawks and Bald Eagles play tomorrow night for the final spot. A win by IUP would bring them back to Saxon, while a win of two goals or more for Lock Haven has them coming to Erie. Other tiebreakers could apply, but the simplest scenario is above. The winner of Saturday's contest will play Seton Hill on Wednesday (5/5) in Greensburg.
