ERIE, Pa. – Redshirt junior Julia Ruscio and sophomore Victoria Gottorff combined nine points, as the Mercyhurst women's lacrosse team dominated the visiting Indiana University of Pennsylvania from the word "go" on Saturday night to book their ticket to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference semifinals with a 16-4 win at Saxon Stadium.    

It took Ruscio just 53-seconds to pick up her first on the night firing a shot by Kelly Macnamara.  The Lakers then looked to add on, but Molly Meegan, Rachel Hirst and Ruscio were all shutdown by Macnamara.  At the 4:31 mark the offense broke through again thanks to Payton Cook.  That was followed by tallies from Gabby McGinn, Ruscio and Hirst in a 3:09 span to grab a commanding 5-0 advantage.  IUP tried to get back into the contest with Jordan Kulp setting up Kayte Zeiler and Leah Hunter to make it 5-2 with 17:44 remaining.  Off the ensuing draw Gottorff netted her first of the evening with an unassisted marker, before Ruscio found Cook to extend the margin to 7-2 at the halfway point.  Ruscio would add her third and fourth goals of the half to complete the scoring through 30-minutes at 9-2. 

In the second half the Green and Blue picked right up where they left off in the opening period as Gottorff buried the rock past replacement keeper Lauren Piecknick with 28 seconds gone.  Two minutes later Gottorff finished off her hat trick with a free-position goal, before putting the ball in the crosse of Marissa Comerate who made it 12-2 with less than five minutes off the clock.  Paige Cocina tickled the twine with goals number 18 and 19 of the season stretching the gap to 14-2 still with 14:17 left.  Both teams would score two more times with Meghan Nasman and Sarah Kaska sticking the ball in the net for the home team resulting in the 16-4 final.
   
Team Stat Pack
Shot Attempts - Hurst, 35 / IUP, 20 
Shots on Goal - Hurst, 27 / IUP, 14
Clears - Hurst, 9-15 / IUP, 5-8
Draw Controls - Hurst, 8 / IUP, 14
Ground Balls - Hurst, 20 / IUP, 10
Turnovers - Hurst, 11 / IUP, 15
Free-Position Attempts - Hurst, 1-4 / IUP, 0-2

Mercyhurst Individual Stat Leaders
Points – Ruscio (5), Gottorff (4), Cocina (3), Cook (2)
Goals – Ruscio (4), Gottorff (3), Cocina and Cook (2)
Assists – Cocina, Gottorff, and Ruscio (1)
Draw Controls – Ruscio (3), Cocina and Meegan (2), Comerate (1)
Saves - Lippert (8)

Indiana (Pa.) Individual Stat Leaders
Goals – Hunter and Kulp (2) 
Draw Controls –Jimenez (10), Reustle (4)
Saves – Macnamara (6), Piecknick (5)

On Deck:  Next Stop Greensburg!
With win the Lakers will now head to top-seeded Seton Hill University on Wednesday for the West Division semifinal.  On the other side of the state top-seeded West Chester will welcome East Stroudsburg.  The winners of semifinals will meet on Saturday, May 8^th at the remaining East Division team for the PSAC title.