Box Score

EAST STROUDSBURG - Freshman Molly O'Hara scored all five of her goals in the first half and senior Renee Maniscalco netted the Warriors' final three goals to hold off a Shippensburg rally as East Stroudsburg University qualified for the PSAC lacrosse tournament with a 10-8 victory on Thursday afternoon at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

The win also ties the school record of 11 wins in a season set by the 2000 team which finished second in the PSAC. ESU will finish the regular season on Saturday at West Chester, then travel to West Chester again on Tuesday for the semifinals of the conference tournament.

O'Hara scored four straight goals for the Warriors after Shippensburg took a 3-2 lead midway through the first half. ESU jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the first 10 minutes on goals by O'Hara and senior Eileen Sanderson before the Raiders got on the board.

O'Hara tied the game on an assist from Maniscalco, then scored on two free position shots a minute apart, and closed the flurry with an unassisted goal to give ESU a 6-3 halftime lead.

Shippensburg scored the first two goals of the second half, with 19 and 14 minutes remaining, to pull within 6-5, but the Warriors never folded as freshmen Christina Mongiori and Christine Bradley hooked up for a goal to put ESU ahead by two.

ESU held a 16-5 advantage in draw controls for the game, led by five each by Maniscalco and O'Hara, and Maniscalco answered the next two Shippensburg goals by winning the draw and scoring to maintain the two-goal lead.

The Raiders pulled within one goal for the final time with 6:57 left, but the ESU defense held and Maniscalco finished the scoring with 1:13 remaining.

Junior goalkeeper Kirstin Mayberry made six saves for the Warriors and senior Janelle Cronmiller entered the game as the Division II leader with more than five ground balls per game.

The Warriors will take on West Chester, the defending PSAC champions, in their final regular season game on Saturday at 1 p.m.