INDIANA, Pa. – IUP women's lacrosse used a pair of decisive runs, coming in the second and fourth quarters, and emerged with a narrow 14-12 victory against Mercyhurst on a sunny Wednesday at Miller Stadium.
 
IUP (9-4, 7-1) erased separate deficits of five and four goals in the hard-fought win, using a balanced scoring attack, a strong effort at the draw control circle and some timely defensive plays. IUP had five players register multiple goals while Rylee Wilson took over down the stretch with 10 draw controls and Maddy Schramm added nine saves.
 
IUP scored in bunches spanning the second and fourth quarters as Leah Moyer, Macenzie Haragos and Brenna Whiteside registered three goals apiece. Kathryn Burke tallied a game-high five points with two goals and three assists, while Maggie Marsteller and Rachel Knight grabbed three ground balls each.
 
Mercyhurst (5-7, 3-5) opened the contest with a quick start, later taking control for much of the third quarter. The Lakers held an 11-7 lead before IUP responded with seven of the last eight goals. Whitley Easton was one of four Lakers with multiple goals on the afternoon.
 
A stretch of goals at the tail end of the third from Moyer and Whiteside at 1:39 and 0:05 brought the Hawks back within two at 11-9 going into the final quarter. Whiteside sliced the IUP deficit to one at 11-10 before the Lakers responded with their final goal of the day from Easton at 7:56.
 
Haragos worked the score even at 5:22 before Moyer delivered what proved to be the game-winner just over one minute later at 4:10. Burke added some insurance for IUP with her 28th of the season, finishing off a feed from Haragos at 3:06 in the fourth.
 
The fourth quarter run mimicked how IUP closed out the opening half, dropping in four unanswered tallies to work the score even heading into the intermission. Mercyhurst used a quick start and some pinpoint shot placement to build a 5-0 advantage in the opening stanza.
 
The Hawks countered back with a pair of goals within a minute of the second quarter beginning, adding four more of the final 6:32 to draw even at six. Moyer got the scoring started at 14:43 for the opening IUP goal of the conference contest, before Chantal Jimenez shuffled a ball free in the slot to a slicing Kulp at 14:02.
 
The Lakers dropped in their final goal of the opening half as Stephanie VanRiper raced down the right wing before depositing her first of the season, pushing the Lakers to a 6-2 edge. Branna Whiteside responded with an eight-meter chance at 6:32 before IUP fired in three goals over the last 1:55, including tallies from Kulp and two from Macenzie Haragos.
 
The back and forth play continued into the second half. The Hawks have now had impressive fourth quarters in each of the last three games, winning two straight following their initial setback in conference play.
 
Up Next
IUP visits Edinboro on Saturday, April 15 for a 1:00 p.m. start.
 
Follow
For coverage of the IUP women's lacrosse program, follow the Crimson Hawks on Twitter and Instagram @IUPlacrosse and online at IUPAthletics.com. 

 

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