INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP women's lacrosse team forced No. 23 Mercyhurst into 19 turnovers and limited the high-scoring Lakers to just six first half shots, as the Crimson Hawks celebrated Senior Day with an 11-6 victory Saturday at Miller Stadium.
 
The win pushed IUP past Mercyhurst in the PSAC West standings with the Hawks improving to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the division. The Lakers fell to 5-2 and 3-2.
 
Prior to the game the program recognized the careers and contributions of its four seniors – Lauren Piecknick, Gianna Piocquidio, Shannon Reape and Kayte Zeiler.
 
Who stood out
Senior Lauren Piecknick had 11 saves and had a season-best save percentage of .647.
Junior Leah Hunter scored a team-best three goals on five shots.
Sophomore Jordan Kulp dished out four assists and had three ground balls.
Freshman Sarah Reustle scored two goals, assisted on another, had two ground balls, two draw controls, and forced a turnover.
 
How it happened
The Crimson Hawks controlled the game from the outset, scoring twice before the Lakers were able to possess the ball for a minute's worth of game clock. The IUP defense made it tough for the Lakers to get in a rhythm, as they finally had their first shot at the 23:10 mark of the first half.
 
Chantal Jimenez, Zeiler and Reustle scored the Hawks' early goals to give them a 3-0 lead with 12:05 left in the half.
 
After a Mercyhurst goal, Jimenez and Zeiler scored their second goals and Katie Hibinger added another as IUP eventually went into the break with a 6-2 lead.
 
IUP led by as many as six goals at three different point in the second half and slowed down a late Mercyhurst rally to finish off the dominating win.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks have three straight road games on the schedule, starting with a trip to Slippery Rock Tuesday.
 
Follow
For coverage of the IUP women's lacrosse program, follow the Crimson Hawks on Twitter and Instagram @IUPlacrosse and online at IUPAthletics.com.