Boxscore
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- Sophomore forward Ashley Paganie (pictured above) scored the first and last goal in Wednesday afternoon's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division match to lead The Rock to a 2-1 win over hosting Lock Haven.
The win snapped a two-game losing skid for SRU, which now owns a 12-5-1 overall record and an 8-4-1 PSAC-West mark.
More importantly, though, the win kept the Green and White in the thick of the chase for a PSAC playoff berth.
Heading into its final regular-season match of the season, which will be played vs. California (Pa.) at 3 p.m. Saturday on James W. Egli Soccer Field, The Rock is in third place in the division standings.
Mercyhurst (10-4-, 8-2-4) clinched the division title Wednesday with its 1-1 tie vs. Gannon, which gave the Lakers 28 points in the PSAC standings system that awards three points for a division-game win and one point for a division-game tie.
Gannon (10-5-2, 8-3-2) is in second place with 26 points, followed by The Rock with 25 points, Indiana, Pa. (12-7, 8-5) with 24 points and California (12-4-3, 7-4-2) with 23 points.
Mercyhurst has concluded its division schedule; Gannon is at Indiana in another crucial PSAC-West match Saturday.
A Rock win Saturday would send SRU to the conference playoffs for the sixth straight season. The Green and White have played in the conference championship match three of the past five seasons.
In Wednesday's match, Paganie scored the first goal of the game off a corner kick in the 17th minute of action.
Lock Haven tied the score at 1-1 with an 81st-minute tally before Paganie got her second goal of the game and seventh goal of the season in the 84th minute to account for the winning tally.
Rock senior goalie Sarah Lacy recorded five saves as The Rock outshot Lock Haven by an 11-9 edge that included a 7-6 difference in shots on goal.
Notes:
The Rock, ranked second a week ago, dropped five spots to seventh place in this week's NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional poll that will ultimately determine the six teams that will compete in the regional tournament ... Rock sophomore forward Alison Hindley is tied for the conference lead in goals scored with 15 and ranks fourth in points per game at 1.67 on the latest PSAC statistical report.
