Erie, Pa – Mercyhurst Women's Soccer continues their season with two home games this week. They are set to host UPJ on Wednesday, October 12th, and follow that with a game against Cal (Pa.) on Saturday, October 15th.
Standings Update
Gannon held onto the top spot in the PSAC West Standings with a conference record of 7-1-3, as they are followed by the Lakers at 6-1-4. Seton Hill currently sits at the third spot with 4-2-5 conference record and Slippery Rock is fourth with a 3-2-6 mark. The Lakers have five games left in their regular season and are scheduled to finish it on October 26th with a rematch against Gannon. The two upcoming games this week are set to be an important challenge for the Lakers, as they are looking to climb up the standings and possibly overtake Gannon at the top spot.
History Lesson
Mercyhurst has never lost to UPJ before as they boast a 12-game winning streak against the Mountain Cats. In their last matchup, the Lakers defeated the UPJ by a score of 2-0 after goals by Emily Mijares and Fern Lazenby. They are hoping to extend the winning streak this Wednesday.
The Lakers have won their last six games against Cal (Pa.) as the last game ended with a score of 2-0. Karah Van Horn put the team in the lead in the first half with a beautiful goal and sealed the win in the second with another.
Team Success In Numbers
The Lakers come in this week with a 7-2-4 overall record. They tied two games last week as the games against Edinboro and Slippery Rock ended with a score of 0-0. In 13 games played so far by the Lakers, they have scored 16 goals and allowed eight. Mercyhurst plays with great effort and average as many as 13 shots per game, with 54% of them on target. They have also drawn 73 corner kicks and turned many of them into scoring opportunities. The Lakers struggled lately with capitalizing on scoring opportunities and are looking to improve on that aspect of the game.
Individual Leaders
Karah Van Horn leads the Lakers on offensive side of the pitch with six goals this season and she is helped by Emily Mijares and Lauren Casey with three goals each. Dani Hartman has recorded two goals so far and Madison Hoover leads the team in assists with three. Maddie Elbro has saved 43 shots so far this season and recorded two more clean sheets last week for a total of seven.
Scouting The Opponents
Emily Esser leads the charge for the Mountain Cats this season with four goals and three assists. She is helped by two sophomores, Morgan Kost and Haley Neidig, as they have scored three goals each. UPJ is a young team and has been gradually improving for the last couple of seasons; the Lakers need to be careful as the Mountain Cats can surprise anybody.
Cal (Pa.) is coming into this weekend with 4-5-2 overall record and 4-4-2 in conference. They sit in the fifth spot in PSAC West Standings, right behind UPJ. Lindsee Galbreath and Kaylee Elwood lead the team with three goals each, followed by Juliana Cruz with two goals this season. The Vulcans are looking to climb up the standings in hopes of making playoffs.
The Lakers host UPJ on Wednesday, October 12th at Mercyhurst Soccer Field with kick-off is scheduled for 4:00 pm. They are set to play Cal (Pa.) on Saturday, October 15th at 1:00 pm.
