PSAC Tournament Central

INDIANA, PA - For the first time in program history, the IUP women's lacrosse team has earned a postseason berth and will travel to Erie on Tuesday to face Mercyhurst in the quarterfinal of the 2012 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament.

IUP finished the regular season with an 11-5 overall record and enters the tournament as the fifth seed after going 7-4 in PSAC play this year. Mercyhurst earned the right to host in the quarterfinal round after going 8-3 in conference play. Gannon (9-2) will host Bloomsburg (7-4) in the other quarterfinal game on Tuesday, with the winners moving on to the semifinals in Lock Haven this weekend.

Lock Haven is the number one seed in the tournament and will host the semifinals and championship game, while West Chester is the number two seed. As the top two seeds with identical 9-2 PSAC records, both teams received first round byes in the tournament.

The quarterfinal matchup with Mercyhurst will be a rematch of the April 11 game which was won 14-11 by the Lakers at Miller Stadium. The Crimson Hawks held an 8-5 halftime lead, but Mercyhurst surged with nine straight second half goals to get the win.

IUP will be looking for revenge on Tuesday as the Crimson Hawks rank higher than Mercyhurst in every major team statistical category, including scoring margin (+2.93 - +1.4), caused turnovers (10.8 - 7.73) and draw controls (17.53 - 13.6).

Offensively, the Crimson Hawks are led by Alexa Lodovici (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional), who ranks near the top of the NCAA in points and points per game, and is also one of the PSAC's leading goal scorers. Dominating from the get-go, Lodovici's 48 goals this season are tied for second all-time in school history, just two away from tying the record. Her 84 points this year are second all-time, five away from tying the record of 89. Her 36 assists are also second, 10 behind the record of 46 that Becca Vogt (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) set last year.

Colleen Berlin (Baltimore, MD/Institute of Notre Dame) is IUP's second leading scorer with 45 goals and 54 points, tallying a team-leading seven free position goals on the year. Also having a huge year is Stephanie Bianco (King of Prussia/Upper Merion), posting a career-high 41 goals, totaling 45 points.

Vogt again is a key facilitator for IUP, dishing out 33 assists on the year and adding 15 goals, as she's third on the team with 48 points. Earlier this year, Vogt broke the school's all-time record for career points, entering the tournament with 232 points.

Bianco also gets it done in other ways for the Crimson Hawks, as she's third in the conference and 10th in the nation with 89 draw controls, has 36 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers.

Corinne Miller (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) is another do-it-all player for IUP, scoring 21 goals with 37 ground balls, 38 draw controls and 18 caused turnovers.

On the defensive end, the Crimson Hawks rely on a trio of defenders in Taylor Norwood (Chantilly, VA/Chantilly), Brenna Gallagher (Evans City/Seneca Valley) and Paige Beierschmitt (Eastampton Township, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional). Those three lead IUP in caused turnovers with 22, 22, and 21, respectively, as the Crimson Hawks are first in the PSAC and fifth in the nation with 11.0 caused turnovers per game. In the net for 14 starts this year has been Chelsey Hipp (Clarksville, MD/Good Counsel), who's logged nearly 800 minutes and has 118 saves on the season with an 8-5 record.

If IUP advances, it'll set up a rematch of the thrilling regular-season ending matchup between the Crimson Hawks and Lock Haven. Needing a win to secure its first ever postseason berth, IUP downed the Bald Eagles - then the ninth-ranked team in the nation - 14-13 on the turf at Miller Stadium.