ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst Women's Lacrosse Team is set for their second game in the last week against the East Stroudsburg Warriors in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Lakers enter the 16 team bracket as the No.4 seed in the Atlantic Region while the Warriors enter the contest as the No.1 seed in the Atlantic Region while also being ranked third nationally in the latest IWLCA rankings.

Laker Overview 

This will mark the first time since the 2019 season that the Lakers have reached the NCAA Tournament. That year just like this season the Lakers fell to East Stroudsburg in the PSAC Semifinals before matching up with them in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Lakers will look to bounce back after their 13-2 loss in the PSAC Semifinals last Friday to the Warriors. East Stroudsburg shutout the Lakers in the first half and scored the first 11 goals of the contest. The Lakers yielded just three shots in the first 30 minutes of action. Sarah Kaska and Meghan Nasman produced the two Laker tallies in the contest. 

Scouting East Stroudsburg

The Warriors enter the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season after defeating West Chester in the PSAC Championship game last Sunday. The Warriors Emily Mitarotonda, Gianna LeDuc, and Kiki Fitzpatrick have produced 66% of the Warriors points this season. Mitarotonda leads the squad with 70 goals on the season while LeDuc is tops on the team with 95 points on 49 goals and 46 assists for the Warriors. The trio combined for 13 of the 20 points that the Warriors collected last Friday.

Around the Bracket

West Chester and Seton Hill make up the other side of the Atlantic Regional Bracket to round out the PSAC representatives in the tournament. Their first round matchup will also be a repeat of the PSAC Semifinal round where West Chester dominated the Griffins by a 17-8 margin. If the Lakers were to advance past the Warriors in the opening round they would play the winner of the rematch between the Golden Rams and the Griffins.