Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Lebanon, Ill. - Mercyhurst women's water polo went west to Illinois for a trio of games at McKendree in WWPA competition. The first two of those contests took place on Saturday with the Lakers coming away with a win in game one over Salem by six while falling to Gannon in a  9-8 thriller.

How it Happened

In game one of the day, the Lakers took on Salem with Mercyhurst coming out on top, 13-7. The Laker's defense came out strong in the opening frame as they allowed just one goal by the Tigers. Salem did not find much luck in getting their offense going as they hardly attempted a shot in the first quarter, putting them behind in the early going. For Mercyhurst, their offense found a bit of a rhythm with a trio of goals in the frame with Freya Green, Sakura Gavin and Bri Allstun each finding the back of the net once.

Allstun got things going in the second canto as she ended up scoring a trio of goals in the frame to help her get her weekend started off right while extending Mercyhurst's lead. She was joined by Allie Dombkowski in the scoring column in the quarter to help the Lakers to an 7-3 lead at the halftime break. 

The second half was more of the same for Mercyhurst with their defense holding strong while their offense was able to slowly build out their lead. In the third quarter it was Dombkowski who carried the load on offense with two of the team's three goals with Gavin having the other. Dombkowski added on with one more in the final frame to tie Allstun for the team lead in scores in the game with four, helping push the Lakers to the six-goal win.

In game two, offense was hard to come by in the early going as both teams could muster only one goal each. After a strong start to her day against the Tigers, Dombkowski followed up in game two with the first goal of the game for the Lakers to help them keep things tied at 1-1 with their crosstown rivals. The two teams kept pace with one another once again in the second as the score held at 3-3 going into the halftime break.

The Golden Knights managed to grab a lead coming out of the break with them scoring three goals to Mercyhurst's two, taking a 6-5 lead into the final period of play. For the Lakers, Rachel Vlietstra and Krista Domaracki each found the back of the net once, but their work was not quite enough as they went into the fourth down one.

The final eight minutes were highly contested ones between the two teams with Gannon just barely able to hold onto their lead. Mercyhurst was aggressive when they got the ball and took every opportunity to try and tie things up and then hopefully claim the lead. It was not meant to be, though, as the Golden Knight's defense was able to hold on just long enough in the end to secure the one-goal win.

Highlights

For the Lakers, Allie Dombkowski led the way with eight goals between the two games, scoring four in each contest. She was joined by Bri Allstun and Sakura Gavin among players with multiple goals on the day as Allstun finished with four while Gavin ended with three.

Next Game

Mercyhurst ends their time away from home tomorrow with a contest with the host, McKendree, to wrap up their schedule in the month of March.