INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP women's lacrosse team fell to visiting Seton Hill by a score of 13-7 in the Crimson Hawks' regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at Miller Stadium.
 
The game decided the final seeding for next week's 2015 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships, as Seton Hill winds up as the fourth seed with a 9-3 league record while the Crimson Hawks will be the fifth seed with an 8-4 mark.
 
The result will set up a rematch next Tuesday when Seton Hill hosts IUP in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
 
The Crimson Hawks (10-7, 8-4) got out to an early lead with back-to-back goals by Brittney Palardy (Perry Hall, MD/Perry Hall) and Tara Nicholas (Germantown, MD/Northwest) in the game's first seven minutes. 14th-ranked Seton Hill (13-4, 9-3) fired back with four straight goals over 10 minutes of game action to jump on top 4-2.
 
Tara Nicholas (Germantown, MD/Northwest) stopped the Griffins' run with her 22nd goal of the year to cut IUP's deficit to one with 11:17 to play in the half. Seton Hill then scored the next two goals before Maddie Poehlman (Ellicott City, Md./Seton Keough (Howard C.C.)) wrapped up the half's scoring with her first goal of the game as IUP trailed the Griffins 6-4 at the break.
 
The Griffins scored the first three goals of the second half to take a 9-4 lead before the Crimson Hawks rallied back with scores from Poehlman and Sara Harshman (Walkersville, MD/Walkersville) to cut the deficit to three with under 13 minutes to play.
 
Seton Hill slowed its offensive pace down the rest of the way, adding four goals while limiting the Crimson Hawks to just one as the Griffins closed out the six-goal victory. IUP did have chances down the stretch, but the Griffins' defense was able to limit good shot opportunities by the Crimson Hawks.
 
Nicholas, Poehlman and Palardy finished with two goals each for the Crimson Hawks while Amy Weinberg (Clarksville, MD/Atholton) rung up three assists to increase her school record total to 64 on the season. IUP had 11 caused turnovers, with Hannah Bertolo (Murrysville/Franklin Regional), Carissa Smith (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) and Palardy each tallying two. Smith led the way with six ground ball pick ups, while Palardy had four and Nicholas and Bertolo both had three. Angela Lontoc (Columbus, OH/Dublin Scioto) started and played nearly 47 minutes in the net, finishing with 11 saves.
 
This will be the fourth consecutive PSAC tournament appearance for the Crimson Hawks, who have advanced to the semifinals in each of the last two seasons.
 
Tuesday's quarterfinal game is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Greensburg.
 
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.