ST. CHARLES, Mo. – In a battle of top 20 Division II women's lacrosse teams, No. 18 IUP fell to third-ranked Lindenwood by a score of 23-13 on Friday afternoon.
 
It was the 2015 season opener for the Crimson Hawks, who were picked to finish third in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) preseason coaches' poll. It was Lindenwood's second game of their year as the Lions improve to 2-0 on the year.
 
Junior All-American Amy Weinberg (Clarksville, MD/Atholton) tallied a game-high seven assists on the day, the second highest single game total in school history. Kim Hooven (Malvern/Great Valley) had a team-high four goals for the Crimson Hawks while Tara Nicholas (Germantown, MD/Northwest), Bailey McLeish (Courtice, Ontario/Anderson C.V.I), and Brenna Gallagher (Evans City/Seneca Valley) each scored twice.
 
The Lions scored three times in the game's first two minutes to take an early lead, but IUP evened up the scoring the rest of the way as Lindenwood went into halftime with an 8-5 lead.
 
IUP scored the first goal of the second half to narrow the gap to just two at 8-6, but a 7-3 run by the Lions gave them a 15-9 lead midway through the second stanza. The Crimson Hawks cut their deficit to four just a couple of minutes later, but Lindenwood scored eight of the final 10 goals to come out with the 10-goal win.
 
In addition to her seven assists, Weinberg also picked up seven draw controls on the day. Carissa Smith (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) caused seven turnovers defensively and grabbed two grounds balls. Sarah Knotts (Mount Airy, MD/Linganore) and Angela Lontoc (Columbus, OH/Dublin Scioto) each split time in the net for the Crimson Hawks, combining for seven saves.
 
IUP is back in action on Monday, playing No. 20 Grand Valley State at the Rissell-Schreyer Dome at Thiel College. Game time is 11:30 a.m.
 
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