Box Score LOCK HAVEN, PA – A furious 4-1 run midway through the second half wasn't enough for the Crimson Hawks in their comeback attempt, as IUP lost to Mercyhurst 13-7 in the semifinals of the 2014 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Lacrosse Championships on Friday.
The loss ends the season for the Crimson Hawks - the third seed in the tournament - who wrap things up with a 13-5 overall record, tying the mark for the most wins in program history.
The Crimson Hawks found themselves down 7-2 with 20:42 left in the game after Mercyhurst scored its third goal of the second half.
Drew Hayden (Gibsonia/Pine Richland) responded with a goal and later IUP rattled off three goals in a 1:49 time span to cut the Lakers' lead to 8-6 with 15:04 to play.
Sarah Ward (Murrysville/Franklin Regional ) scored two of her three goals on the mini run, with
Kim Hooven (Malvern/Great Valley) netting the other.
The Lakers stopped the streak at 14:36 with a goal at the 14:36 mark, and began pulling away by scoring five of the game's last six goals en route to the victory.
Alex Edwards (Bethlehem/Nazareth) scored IUP's final goal with 3:21 to go, but Mercyhurst held a five-goal lead at that point. The Lakers, the second seed in the tournament, advance to the PSAC title game where they will play top-seeded Lock Haven.
Ward's three goals led the team as she was the only one to have a multi-goal game.
Amy Weinberg (Clarksville, MD/Atholton) had two assists while Hooven and
Carissa Smith (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) each dished out one. Defensively,
Taylor Norwood (Chantilly, VA/Chantilly) had three caused turnovers to go along with four ground balls.
Norwood also had four of IUP's 11 draw controls while Palardy and Weinberg each had three.
Katie Davis (Owings Mills, MD/Mercy) made six saves in the net for the Crimson Hawks, adding three ground balls on the day.
The Crimson Hawks started the game with the opening two goals, first by Palardy and then from Ward. Mercyhurst then scored four straight over the final 20 minutes of the first half to take a 4-2 lead into the break.
In addition to the 13 wins, several other individual and team records were set in 2014. The Crimson Hawks also set new team records with 293 goals, 155 assists and 448 points. Individual season records included Hayden's 63 goals, Weinberg's 53 assists and Norwood's 46 caused turnovers. Weinberg also set a new school and PSAC record with 11 assists against East Stroudsburg.
