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EAST STROUDSBURG – Junior midfielder Becky Gagliardi, junior midfielder Katie Barbato and junior forward Gabrielle Seibert all scored as East Stroudsburg University opened PSAC field hockey play with a 3-1 win over No. 7-ranked Mercyhurst on Friday afternoon at Whitenight Field.

Gagliardi scored the only goal of the first half, her first of the season, at the 27-minute mark on an assist from Barbato, and the score remained 1-0 until Barbato scored her first career goal with 9:50 remaining in regulation.

Seibert scored 2:12 later, assisted by junior forward Jessica Lawville, to make it 3-0 before Mercyhurst got on the board just 23 seconds after that on a goal by Cayla Slade.

ESU (4-4, 1-0) held advantages of 17-6 in shots and 14-4 in penalty corners to beat the Lakers (3-4, 0-1), who won a non-conference meeting, 4-2, on September 15 in western Pennsylvania.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alexis Charles had three saves for ESU, while Jess Wess had nine saves for Mercyhurst.

ESU avenged a 4-2, non-conference loss at Mercyhurst two weeks ago.

Seibert and Barbato both had a goal and an assist. Seibert's goal was her fifth of the year.

ESU hosts Slippery Rock on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Whitenight Field.