Box Score
SLIPPERY ROCK – East Stroudsburg University erased all but the final goal of a five-goal deficit in the last 14 minutes of regulation, but Slippery Rock netted an insurance goal with two minutes left and held on for a 13-11 win in PSAC lacrosse on Friday afternoon in western Pennsylvania.
The Rock (9-5, 4-5) won a battle between two teams fighting for a PSAC playoff spot and two of the top scorers in the conference in ESU senior
Molly O'Hara and SRU junior Amy Halls.
O'Hara had five goals and an assist for the Warriors (8-6, 5-4) while moving into second in school history with 203 career points. She scored four goals in the first half, netting the first two goals of the game and recording her 200th career point with an unassisted goal with 10 minutes left in the opening period.
O'Hara's only goal of the second half was the first tally in a 4-0 run that narrowed Slippery Rock's 12-7 lead to a single goal with just under six minutes left. Freshman
Nicole Miller scored her second goal of the period immediately after O'Hara's goal with 10:12 left, assisted on junior
Maure Perrymond's score with 6:17 left, and junior
Laura Riegel found the net a little more than 30 seconds later to cut the deficit to one.
Emma VanDenburg gave Slippery Rock a two-goal cushion on a free position goal with 2:04 left, and ESU had just one more offensive possession after the Rock won the draw control.
Halls scored seven goals in the contest after entering the week as the PSAC's second-leading scorer with 45 goals this season. She scored five times in the first half, staking the Rock to a 7-5 lead, and added a pair of goals in a 5-2 run to start the second half.
Goalkeeper Kat Elkins was solid between the pipes for Slippery Rock as well, producing 15 saves as ESU outshot the home team 36-27 and was the beneficiary of a 29-13 advantage in turnovers. However, Slippery Rock won the draw control battle, 15-11, and was 5-for-9 on free position shots while ESU was just 2-for-12.
Miller and Riegel both had two goals and an assist for ESU, Perrymond and senior
Michelle Mangiaruga added goals and senior
Jamie Wesztergom had an assist to account for the Warriors' scoring.
O'Hara (42 goals, 13 assists) and Mangiaruga (34 goals, 21 assists) both have 55 points this season heading into Saturday's match-up at Edinboro. Mangiaruga has 192 career points and can join O'Hara as the fourth member of the Warriors' 200-point club.
ESU is one of four teams in the PSAC with five conference wins going into Saturday's action. West Chester (9-0) won 13-12 at Lock Haven (8-1) in a match-up of the top two teams on Friday, Gannon (6-3) is third and ESU, Bloomsburg, IUP and Mercyhurst all have five victories.
Warriors Notes
* O'Hara had her 34th career hat trick and 9th career game with at least five goals. Her 203 career points include 164 goals (2nd-most in school history) and 39 assists. She had 56 goals and 10 assists to earn PSAC East Player of the Year honors last season.
