SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 22nd ranked Mercyhurst University women's lacrosse team rallied midway through the second half to escape an upset bid and hold on for a 16-12 victory over Slippery Rock University Wednesday evening at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Lakers improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division games with the win, while Slippery Rock dropped to 1-2 overall and 0-2 in PSAC games.
 
Slippery Rock led twice in the first half, including just over 10 seconds into the game when Katie Dlugosz won the opening draw control and stormed down the field to score after just 11 seconds had elapsed. Her tally tied the SRU program record for the fastest goal in history, matching a strike from Casey Quinn against East Stroudsburg in 2010.
 
Mercyhurst quickly answered with a 4-0 run to take a 4-1 lead with 22:47 to play in the half, but SRU would come back with an answer of its own. After a timeout, The Rock rattled off three straight goals to tie the game at 4-4.
 
The teams traded tallies until Emily Benham fired in her third goal of the half with 1:50 to play to put Slippery Rock out front, 7-6.
 
The lead would be short-lived again, however, as Mercyhurst capitalized on a free-position attempt with just 8.5 seconds left in the half to send it to the break tied at 7-7.
 
The Lakers scored the first two goals of the second period and put together a 5-1 run that included a pair of man-down goals, opening up a 12-8 lead with 20:52 to play.
 
SRU stopped the run with a goal from Rachel Mahoney, the first of her career, but Mercyhurst answered with two more goals to extend the lead to its largest of the game at 14-9 with 16:25 to play.
 
Slippery Rock scored three times in the final 16 minutes, but couldn't make up the gap.
 
The Rock finished the game with a 37-30 advantage in shots and a 17-12 advantage in draw controls. Mercyhurst managed a 19-17 edge in ground balls and was the better team in transition, going 16-of-19 on clear attempts compared to 12-of-21 for SRU.
 
Benham paced The Rock attack with five points on three goals and two assists. Jamie DiCarlo added a hat trick and one assist, Dlugosz finished with three goals and Sam Barnhart tallied one goal and one assist to cap the multiple-point scorers.
 
Mahoney and Molly Buettner each scored one goal to round out the point scorers.
 
Rachel Shaw led the defensive effort with two caused turnovers and five ground balls, while Gillian O'Rourke finished the day with a career-high 11 saves in goal.

Mercyhurst was led by Julia Rescott with a game-high seven goals. Gabby McGinn finished with six assists and Payton Cook scored three goals and handed out two assists. Kaitlyn Lippert earned the win in goal with 16 saves.
 
Slippery Rock will look to snap its two-game losing skid when the team returns to action Saturday with a noon start in PSAC action at Seton Hill University.




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