Box Score

ERIE - Sophomore forward Alex Pickett scored three goals for her first career hat trick and East Stroudsburg University rallied from an early deficit for a 4-1 win at Gannon to finish the PSAC women's soccer regular season on Saturday.

ESU (13-4-1, 12-3-1), the two-time defending PSAC champion, will be the PSAC's No. 4 seed in next week's tournament and host No. 5 Slippery Rock (10-7-1, 8-7-1) on Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

Pickett scored the game-tying goal in the 25th minute, the go-ahead goal in the 70th minute and finished her hat trick with 53 seconds remaining for the Warriors, who secured the No. 4 seed at halftime when Kutztown's 4-0 win at Slippery Rock went final.

The victory is a crucial one for ESU's NCAA Division II Tournament hopes, as ESU is listed No. 6 in this week's NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings with the top six teams advancing to the national tournament.

Senior back Hannah Gombos added ESU's third goal in the 74th minute, doubling the lead after Pickett's go-ahead goal just over four minutes earlier.

The win is ESU's first this season when conceding the game's first goal. The Warriors were previously 0-3-1 when going down 1-0, while posting a 12-1 record when scoring first in 2016.

Gannon (9-5-3, 9-5-2), which will be the No. 6 seed next week, opened the scoring on a goal by Taylor Lewis in the 21st minute, before Pickett leveled the score just 4:31 later.

Pickett broke the tie, assisted by junior midfielder Sammi Ortiz, in the 70th followed by Gombos' third goal of the season and her hat trick clincher in the 90th.

Pickett's hat trick is ESU's first since Shea Neal scored all three goals in a 3-0 win vs. IUP in 2014.

She pushed her season goal total to 12 in 14 games (13 starts) and is the only ESU player with more than three goals this season. Five Warriors have scored three goals each, leading ESU to a 38-12 goal differential in 18 games.

Junior goalkeeper Jules Harris had five saves for ESU, which had a 16-13 edge in shots. The Warriors outshot the Golden Knights 9-3 in the second half, after Gannon held a 10-7 advantage in the first 45 minutes.

Shannon Differ had four saves for Gannon.

ESU will look for its sixth PSAC semifinal appearance in 10 seasons under head coach Rob Berkowitz on Tuesday. The Warriors finished the regular season tied with Edinboro (13-3-1, 12-3-1) for third in the PSAC, but Edinboro gained the No. 3 seed by virtue of its 1-0 (2OT) win at ESU last Saturday.

The Warriors enter the PSAC Tournament with four conference titles (1994, 1997, 2014, 2015), tied with West Chester for the most in conference history.

ESU tied at Slippery Rock, 1-1 (2OT), in the regular season meeting on October 8. The Warriors fell behind in the eighth minute and trailed under senior midfielder Shea Neal scored the game-tying goal with 6:22 remaining in regulation.

The Warriors met Slippery Rock in last year's PSAC Tournament, posting a 2-0 win in the semifinals (at Gannon) on the way to their second straight conference title.

PSAC Quarterfinals (Tuesday)
#1 West Chester (17-0, 16-0) vs. #8 IUP (9-8-1, 8-7-1)
#2 Kutztown (15-3, 13-3) vs. #7 Bloomsburg (9-6-2, 8-6-2)
#3 Edinboro (13-3-1, 12-3-1) vs. #6 Gannon (9-5-3, 9-5-2)
#4 ESU (13-4-1, 12-3-1) vs. #5 Slippery Rock (10-7-1, 8-7-1)