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EAST STROUDSBURG – April Daugherty scored three goals, including both of her team's second-half tallies, to lead No. 5-ranked Merrimack to a 4-3 win over No. 9 East Stroudsburg University in non-conference field hockey on Sunday afternoon at Whitenight Field.

ESU (1-1), coming off a 6-0 win over Adelphi on Saturday, twice battled back from one-goal deficits in the first half to tie the game at 2-2 going into intermission.

Daugherty broke the tie exactly halfway through the second period, scoring with 17:30 left, and added her third goal of the game just 3:02 later to make it 4-2 in favor of the visitors.

Senior forward Lauren Ventrella scored her second goal in as many days to bring ESU within 4-3 with 9:11 remaining, but Merrimack held off a late ESU penalty corner in the final minute to come away with the victory.

In the first half, Daugherty assisted on the game's first goal by Candace Waldie just 3:27 in. Freshman forward Ally Roth, who also scored in the win over Adelphi, tied it for ESU five minutes later.

Senior midfielder Mallory Pope ripped her first goal of the season with 1:05 left in the first half to make it 2-2 after Daugherty regained the lead for Merrimack just over 13 minutes into the game.

Goalkeeper Kerri Bergquist played a key role for Merrimack, making 13 saves, including 11 in the first half when ESU held a 16-8 advantage in shots. Both teams had five shots in the second half, giving ESU a 21-13 margin for the game. Senior Sarah Dobroskey had four saves for ESU.

Merrimack, which advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four for the first time in school history last year, dropped its opener 5-1 at defending national champion West Chester on Saturday.

ESU returns to non-conference action next weekend with a trip to Stonehill on Sunday. The PSAC East schedule begins on Tuesday, Sept. 11 when the Warriors host LIU Post at 4 p.m. at Whitenight Field.