Box Score

INDIANA, PA – Nicole Bruce (Clarks Summit/Lackawanna Trail) scored a goal and assisted on two others as fifth-ranked IUP took down ninth-ranked Mansfield 5-3 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division field hockey matchup on Tuesday afternoon at George P. Miller Stadium.

A battle of nationally-ranked PSAC schools, IUP moved up three spots from No. 8 in the NFHCA Coaches' Poll released earlier today while Mansfield made its debut in cracking the top 10.

It was the Mountaineers (3-1, 0-1) who struck first, as Taryn Schawillie scored off a pass from Kristy Tutorow just over a minute into the game.

IUP responded almost eight minutes later when Bruce picked up her goal, getting an assist from her sister Kate at the 8:48 mark.

Mansfield got back on top at 14:52 with a Kristyn Grunza to Brianna Velepec redirect but the Crimson Hawks would keep up with the back-and-forth play with a Paige Mosner (Newton, NJ/Newton) rocket shot from the left wing to the bottom left corner of the cage to make it a 2-2 game heading into the half.

Even with the tie score, the Crimson Hawks completely dominated the offensive end, outshooting the Mountaineers 15-4 with six penalty corners compared to just two for Mansfield.

IUP came out strong in the second half, as Brielle Mackey (Coopersburg/Southern Lehigh) broke the tie off a pass from Anouk Sickman (Antwerp, Belgium/Lazac Cellepe), scoring on the left side of the cage just 2:50 in. Less than three minutes later Jillian Duld (Allentown/Parkland) made it a two-score game when she scored off an assist from Nicole Bruce (Clarks Summit/Lackawanna Trail).

The high-paced scoring continued with Mansfield's Alycia Pici scoring less than three minutes after Duld's goal to make it a 4-3 game until Dani Edwards (Milford/Delaware Valley) attempted to put the game out of reach when she scored less than a minute later at the 44:13 mark, again with an assist by Bruce.

Mansfield attempted to get back in the game with three corners and four shots, but the IUP defense turned the Mountaineers away and goalie Brittany Varacallo (New Britain/Central Bucks South) stopped two shots to keep them at bay.

In the end, IUP attempted 22 shots, twice as much as Mansfield's 11 and had eight corners in the game.

Sarah Lemieux (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman) got the start in the cage for the Crimson Hawks, saving two shots in the first half before giving way to Varacallo, who notched three saves after their usual halftime switch.

IUP (4-1, 2-0) is back in action this weekend with two huge games, playing at No. 10 Kutztown on Friday before facing No. 3 West Chester on Saturday.