INDIANA, Pa. – Coming off a thrilling postseason clinching victory, the IUP women's lacrosse team will look for more road magic as the Crimson Hawks open PSAC tournament play with a quarterfinal matchup at Mercyhurst in Erie Saturday night. 

The Crimson Hawks enter the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Lacrosse Championships with a 6-5 overall record. Mercyhurst is 9-3.

Spectators
Mercyhurst announced a new fan policy for Saturday night's PSAC quarterfinal that allows spectators to Saxon Stadium. Click here to read the full policy. 

Follow/Social Media
Live Scoring: HurstAthletics.com
Watch: HurstAthletics.com
PSAC W. Lacrosse: PSACsports.org
Twitter: @IUPlacrosse
Instagram: @iupwomenslax

Last time out
Chantal Jimenez scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Crimson Hawks to a thrilling 14-13 win in a rainstorm at Lock Haven in Thursday's regular season finale. The victory gave the Crimson Hawks the third and final playoff spot from the division. 

How they got here
>> The Crimson Hawks earned the No. 3 seed from the PSAC West with a 6-4 divisional record. IUP needed a win (or a loss by just one goal) in the regular season finale at Lock Haven to clinch a spot.
>> Mercyhurst earned the No. 2 seed in the division and a quarterfinal home game with a 7-3 record in the PSAC West. 

IUP in the PSAC tournament
>> The Crimson Hawks are making the program's eighth PSAC tournament appearance. IUP earned berths each year from 2012 to 2017 and again in 2019. The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.
>> IUP has advanced to the semifinal round four times (2013-14, 2016-17) and has a tournament record of 4-7. 

Notes
>> IUP and Mercyhurst split the regular season series, with each team winning on its home field. The Crimson Hawks took down a then-No. 23 Mercyhurst team 11-6 at Miller Stadium on April 3 and the Lakers won 15-12 in Erie on Wednesday night. 
>> These two teams have met twice in the postseason with Mercyhurst winning both - 19-11 in Erie in the 2012 quarterfinals and 13-7 in Lock Haven in the 2014 semifinals. 
>> This will be the Crimson Hawks' fourth straight road game, including their third in Erie, since Monday. IUP went 2-1 this week with wins over Gannon and Lock Haven to clinch a playoff spot.
>> Sophomore Jordan Kulp has put together a big week, leading the team with 10 goals and eight assists (18 points) in the last three games. She hit a career-high with nine points at Mercyhurst and tied her season-high of four goals against the Lakers and at Lock Haven. 
>> Kulp is tied for the PSAC-lead with 2.73 assists per game and leads the West Division with 5.00 points per game this season. 
>> Junior Kelly Macnamara, a converted attacker, has played admirably in goal over the last week. She's started in the net each of the last four games and has a 10.97 goals against average, 29 saves, and a 3-1 record.
>> Junior Leah Hunter has scored six goals in two games against Mercyhurst this year. Defensively, senior Shannon Reape has three caused turnovers and six ground balls.