ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst Women's Lacrosse team came up short on Saturday afternoon to the visiting IUP Crimson Hawks by a 12-11 score. IUP scored five goals in the final four minutes to steal the victory.

Play started off in the first quarter for the Crimson Hawks striking first, five minutes into the game. The Lakers responded with two goals, one from Maggie Newton with the other coming from Julia Ruscio to give the Lakers their first lead of the day. The two teams would go on to score two additional goals each in the quarter, for the Lakers it was Marissa Comerate and Victoria Gottorff helping scoring to help them lead 4-3 after one.

The second quarter was relatively low scoring with each team only scoring twice. Meghan Nasman and Kiera Boettcher had goals for the green and white. Kaitlyn Lippert helped keep the Lakers on top with three saves in goal while the Laker defensive unit caused five Crimson Hawk turnovers in the quarter. The Lakers would lead 6-5 at the halftime break.

The third quarter, just like the second, only produced four goals, two from each team. Rachel Hirst and Newton scored for the Lakers with Hirst's goal coming with just 25 seconds remaining in the quarter to break a 7-7 tie, putting the Lakers up entering the final stanza.

In the fourth quarter, Comerate, Nasman, and Newton all scored as part of a 3-0 Mercyhurst scoring run to begin the quarter. The Lakers would lead 11-7 on the scoreboard with four minutes to go before the Crimson Hawks began their comeback ultimately scoring the game winning goal with 36 seconds left.

Lippert finished the game with eight stops in net for the Lakers while Mackenzie Murphy caused a team-high four turnovers, and Gottorff dished out three assists.

The Lakers will return to action on Tuesday as they are scheduled to travel down State Street for a battle with the Gannon Golden Knights, start time is set for 4:00 p.m.