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EAST STROUDSBURG – Senior Molly O'Hara had five goals and two assists to help East Stroudsburg University overcome a three-goal first half deficit in a 15-13 victory over IUP in PSAC lacrosse on Saturday afternoon at Whitenight Field.

O'Hara tied her career-high with seven points and had her eighth career game with at least five goals and senior Michelle Mangiaruga, junior Laura Riegel and sophomore Ali Green scored two goals each for ESU, which trailed 7-4 with 2:50 left in the first half before pulling within 7-6 at halftime.

The Warriors (4-4, 2-2) tied the game on an unassisted goal by freshman Nicole Miller 46 seconds into the second half and again on goals by O'Hara and freshman Sarah Studdiford before a 5-0 run gave ESU a 13-9 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining.

IUP (3-3, 2-2) scored four of the next five goals to pull within 14-13 on Becca Vogt's fifth goal of the game with 34 seconds remaining, but the Warriors forced a turnover after the ensuing draw control and O'Hara netted her fifth goal of the game on an assist from Green with two seconds left.

ESU peppered IUP goalkeeper Kaitlin Sterling with 43 shots, but Sterling was up to the challenge with 19 saves. She had 15 saves on 24 shots by the Warriors in the first half before ESU found more space to shoot in the second half, scoring on seven of its first 14 shots after intermission.

ESU held a 16-13 advantage in draw controls and 35-22 margin in ground balls, largely by controlling possession after outshooting the Crimson Hawks 43-28. IUP also committed five more turnovers, 23-18. O'Hara had five draw controls (four in the second half), senior Jamie Wesztergom had four draw controls, and senior Christine Bradley had a goal and assist and led the Warriors with three caused turnovers and six ground balls.

IUP, which was coming off a 14-13 loss at Bloomsburg on Friday, scored four goals in a four-minute stretch late in the first half to take a three-goal lead on the Warriors after the two teams were even for the first 20 minutes. Beth Glasshagel's second goal of the half put the Crimson Hawks ahead 7-4 before Riegel (from junior Maure Perrymond) and Mangiaruga (from O'Hara) scored within nine seconds of each other to get ESU within one.

Studdiford scored and assisted on Riegel's second goal of the game to start the Warriors' decisive five-goal run. O'Hara assisted on a goal by Mangiaruga and scored an unassisted goal, and Mangiaruga helped on Green's goal which made the score 13-9.

Jessica Beck and Alexa Lodovici scored for IUP to make it 13-11 with 7:30 to play. Green scored on an assist from Wesztergom to give the Warriors a 14-11 cushion with 3:30 remaining, but Vogt scored goals with 1:26 and 34 seconds on the clock to tighten the margin to a single goal before ESU pulled out the win.

O'Hara, last year's PSAC East Player of the Year, moved into second in ESU history in career goals in a 17-6 loss to No. 2 Lock Haven on Friday and has 24 goals and seven assists this season. She has five hat tricks in eight games this year and 30 hat tricks in her career. She has also scored a goal in 28 straight games for the Warriors.

Mangiaruga ranks 10th at ESU with 117 career goals and eighth with 163 points after her four-goal, three-assist performance over the last two days. The two-time first team All-PSAC selection has 15 goals and a team-high 11 assists this season, marking her third straight season with at least 10 assists.

The Warriors play two nationally-ranked opponents next week, traveling to No. 9 Gannon on Tuesday and hosting No. 7 Mercyhurst on Saturday at Whitenight Field.