ERIE, Pa. –  The Mercyhurst Women's Lacrosse team earned a hard fought win on Tuesday afternoon over cross-town rival Gannon by a 9-8 score. The Lakers used a 4-0 scoring run in the third quarter to push them past the Golden Knights.

Marissa Comerate scored the first goal of the game, on a Mercyhurst power play, just two minutes into the opening quarter. Gannon responded with a goal to tie things up before Victoria Gottorff pushed the Lakers back ahead 2-1, scoring with 10 seconds left in the low scoring first quarter.

The Golden Knights took their first lead of the contest after back-to-back goals to start the second quarter. Mercyhurst came back with two goals of their own to reclaim the lead at 4-3 after Maggie Newton and Kiera Boettcher each recorded unassisted goals. Before the quarter ended, Gannon tacked on another two goals courtesy of Macy Hepditch to take a 5-4 lead into the halftime break.

The Lakers came out in the third quarter with four consecutive goals, two from Newton and one each from Boettcher and Molly Meegan to take control of the game holding an 8-5 lead. The Lakers used five caused turnovers and three draw control wins in the quarter to help fuel their run. Gannon did manage to add a tally towards the end of the quarter to cut the Laker lead to two heading into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Lakers would cause five more turnovers and get two saves from goalie Kaitlyn Lippert, however, Gannon did pull the game within one score to begin the quarter. A Boettcher goal with 5:57 remaining proved to be the difference maker as the Golden Knights were unable to find a game-tying goal before the final buzzer sounded.

The Lakers will be on the road again this Saturday at Slippery Rock with start time set for 1:00 p.m.