Erie, PA--The Mercyhurst Lakers Women's Soccer team won their second game in as many days defeating The Penn State Behrend Lions 3-1 on Thursday evening.
The Lions came out fighting, not allowing Mercyhurst's offense to push across the centerline in the early minutes of the contest. After the uneasy start, Mercyhurst slowly began to take control of the contest.
Ali Bakowski earned the start in goal tonight for the Lakers and she did not disappoint, making two saves in her first collegiate start. Head Coach Jon Arlet continued the same rotation in goal that he implemented yesterday as Maddie Elbro entered the game for Mercyhurst midway through the first half.
Shortly after the change in goal, the Lakers offense began to heat up towards the end of the 1st half started by a goal from Alyssa Otto who was led into the box on a through ball from Lauren Casey.
Mercyhurst secured a 2-0 lead in the 44th minute when freshman Emily Parker sliced through the left side of the Lion defense and lifted her first collegiate goal over the out-stretched arms of the keeper.
Penn State Behrend came out aggressive in the second half with two solid chances at goal in the opening minutes. The first of the two was a shot that traveled just wide of the net and the second, a shot that Elbro blocked out of harm's way for Mercyhurst.
Otto earned her second tally of the night halfway through the half after she stole and attempted clear from Penn State Behrend's goalie and finished off the play striking the ball in net to improve Mercyhurst's lead 3-0.
The Lakers made a final switch in goal after this sequence bringing on Kaitlyn Lowe to defend the net.
In the 76th, Lowe was put into action having two quick shots sent in her direction. Unfortunately, after deflecting the second away, the ball landed at the foot of a Lion attacker and Penn State Behrend added their lone goal of the evening.
Mercyhurst outshot the Lions on the night 20-14 and had a combined four saves from the trio in goal.
Arlet was happy with his team's effort after playing two matches in two nights "Tonight was a good test after less than 24 hours turnaround. This was a completely different game to yesterday's and our response to the pressure and physicality was quality. I feel we are learning more about ourselves with each game. Wave after wave they kept coming and we held strong and the quality on our finishes when the chances came was remarkable."
The Lakers will stay in Erie this weekend hosting Carnegie Mellon University at Saxton Stadium on Sunday with kickoff set for 1:00 PM.
