ERIE, Pa. – Kim Hooven (Malvern/Great Valley) scored five goals and Amy Weinberg (Clarksville, MD/Atholton) assisted on five scores but the IUP women's lacrosse team fell to seventh-ranked Mercyhurst 19-11 on Tuesday evening.
 
The loss snapped the Crimson Hawks' six-game win streak and dropped them from their three-way tie for second place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to now a two-way tie for third in the league. IUP is now 8-5 overall and 6-2 in the PSAC, tied with Bloomsburg.
 
Hooven's first goal came midway through the half as she cut Mercyhurst's lead to 3-2. The Lakers then reeled off five consecutive goals to take an 8-2 lead with under nine minutes left in the half. Brittney Palardy (Perry Hall, MD/Perry Hall) and Bailey McLeish (Courtice, Ontario/Anderson C.V.I) exchanged goals with Mercyhurst over the last seven minutes as the Crimson Hawks trailed 10-4 heading into halftime.
 
The Lakers (11-2, 7-1) started the second half with four straight goals to take a 14-4 lead with 17:13 on the clock, but IUP bounced right back with three straight, including two from Hooven and another from McLeish.
 
Both teams traded goals over the last 10 minutes as Mercyhurst held at least a seven-goal lead the rest of the way to secure the 19-11 victory.
 
McLeish finished with three goals on the day while Sarah Harshman and Emma Hicks (Reedsville, WV/Morgantown) each added one. Weinberg also finished with 10 draw controls and three grounds balls in addition to her five assists. Weinberg brings her season total to 52 assists, one short of tying her own single season school record of 52. Sarah Knotts (Mount Airy, MD/Linganore) played nearly 35 minutes in the start, saving three shots and giving up 11 goals.
 
It was the first of four straight road games for the Crimson Hawks, who will be in action again on Friday afternoon at Shippensburg.
 
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.