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Related: Warriors place 6 on All-PSAC team
* Rahmer, Mitarotonda (FR of the Year), Pokrivka on 1st team

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NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings (May 2) (thru Sunday)
1. West Chester (17-0 overall, 17-0 in-region)
2. ESU (13-2, 13-2)
3. Mercyhurst (11-5, 11-4)
4. Slippery Rock (13-4, 12-4)
5. Lock Haven (12-5, 11-4)


EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University will defend its first PSAC women's lacrosse championship in program history when the Warriors take on Mercyhurst in the conference semifinals, hosted by West Chester, on Friday at 4 p.m.

ESU (13-2, 11-1), the No. 2 seed, faces No. 3 seed Mercyhurst (12-5) in a rematch of last year's title game won by the Warriors, 10-9.

ESU-Mercyhurst will be the second semifinal at 4 p.m., preceded by No. 1 seed West Chester (17-0, 12-0) vs. No. 4 Lock Haven (12-5).

The championship game will be Sunday at 1 p.m.

Mercyhurst topped No. 6 seed Bloomsburg, 16-7, dominating the second half by a 9-3 score in a first-round game on Tuesday. Lock Haven survived No. 5 seed Slippery Rock's upset bid, 9-6.

ESU has won nine straight entering the PSAC semifinals since a 14-7 loss at West Chester on March 28. The Warriors are coming off a 17-7 win at LIU Post, ranked No. 7 nationally, on Saturday - scoring eight of the game's final nine goals.

The Warriors won the regular season meeting, 19-14, on April 21 at  Whitenight Field, opening with four goals in the first 4:21 and then outscoring the Lakers 7-3 in the final 18 minutes after the closed within 12-11.

West Chester enters the PSAC Final Four ranked No. 6 in this week's IWLCA DII poll, followed by No. 14 ESU, No. 21 Mercyhurst and No. 22 Lock Haven.

In last week's NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings, used to select the region's three teams that will comprise the 12-team NCAA Tournament field, West Chester was No. 1, ESU No. 2, Mercyhurst No. 3 and Lock Haven No. 5. Updated rankings will be released this Wednesday, and the NCAA selection show will be held Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. on ncaa.com.

ESU, under third-year head coach Xeni Barakos-Yoder, takes a 42-10 record since 2016 into Friday's semifinal - including 30-5 the last two years, and 22-2 in PSAC action (11-1 both years), along with last spring's two postseason wins.

The Warriors are led by three 2017 postseason award winners - senior midfielder Chessie Rahmer, named IWLCA third team All-America; junior midfielder Emma Rufolo, the PSAC Athlete of the Year; and sophomore goalkeeper Tatyana Petteway, also a third team All-America selection as a freshman - along with a pair of standout underclassmen, freshman attack Krista Mitarotonda and sophomore midfielder Hana Cicerelle.

Mitarotonda has 55 goals and eight assists, shattering ESU freshman records for goals and points (63), to lead an offense that has scored 220 goals in 15 games. The Warriors have scored at least 14 goals in each of their last eight games during their nine-game winning streak.

Mitarotonda is tied for fifth on ESU's single-season goals list and just two from sole possession of second. She has scored at least three goals in 10 of her 15 games with three six-goal performances.

Cicerelle has produced a breakout season with 39 goals and 15 assists, with six games of four-plus goals, after posting 26 goals and 13 assists in 20 games as a freshman on last year's PSAC championship team.

Rahmer (39 goals, 6 assists), who ranks tied for sixth at ESU in career goals (136) and 10th in points (164), has been lights-out down the stretch with 22 goals in the last six games, including five in Saturday's win at LIU Post.

Mitarotonda (6 goals, 1 assist), Cicerelle (4 goals, 4 assists) and Rahmer (4 goals, 2 assists) accounted for 14 goals and seven assists in the 19-14 win vs. Mercyhurst two weeks ago.

Rufolo has turned in another impressive season after earning PSAC Athlete of the Year as a sophomore, her first year at ESU after transferring from Division I Gardner-Webb. She has 29 goals and eight assists following a 34-goal, 17-assist campaign in 2017 and continues to rank among ESU's leaders in ground balls (1st - 55), caused turnovers (3rd - 24) and draw controls (3rd - 25).

Mitarotonda leads the Warriors with 76 draw controls, followed by Rahmer with 58, as ESU has a 213-166 advantage for the year.

The low attack tandem of juniors Brooke Fritz (15 goals, 30 assists) and TJ Jefferis (15 goals, 26 assists) has both contributed more than 40 points and moved into ESU's career top 10 in assists - both entering the PSAC Tournament with 50. Both have also hit the 100-point mark for their careers, Jefferis with 125 (75 goals, 50 assists) and Fritz with 107 (57 goals, 50 assists).

Also in the attack are sophomore Cassidy McKenna (8 goals, 4 assists), senior midfielder Alicia Stratten (7 goals, 6 assists) and freshman Bailey McMaster (6 goals, 2 assists). Stratten has 41 career goals and 21 assists - with two goals and two assists in an 11-9 win vs. IUP in the PSAC semifinals last year.

Petteway, second in the PSAC and fourth in DII in save percentage (.543) entering the week, anchors a defense which has surrendered just 132 goals (8.8 per game) with 10 or less in 10 of the Warriors' 13 wins.

ESU has started the same back four in 14 of its 15 games in junior Natalie Jacobs, sophomore Madison Mulligan and freshmen Kristen Andreychak and Kayleigh Pokrivka.

Pokrivka in particular has stood out statistically, ranking second in the PSAC in caused turnovers (2.87 per game) and eighth in ground balls (3.60 per game). Rufolo is seventh in ground balls (3.67 per game).

Mulligan (5 caused turnovers, 16 ground balls) has started all 35 games in her career, and Jacobs (11 caused turnovers, 20 ground balls) has started 34 of 35 in the last two years. Andreychak has 12 caused turnovers and 27 ground balls in her first season with the Warriors.

ESU has won three straight against Mercyhurst - 16-10 in the regular season and 10-9 in the PSAC championship last year, and 19-14 this year - after dropping eight straight since 2009, when the Lakers joined the PSAC.

Mercyhurst has reached the PSAC championship game in five of the last six years, and won its only title in 2016.

West Chester has won a conference-best 21 championships, but just one in the last nine seasons, capturing its most recent in 2013.

Lock Haven has won eight championship, including five in a seven-year span (2009-11, 14-15), but missed the conference tournament last year.

Mercyhurst is led by senior attack Taylor Izzo, who is second in the PSAC in points per game (5.18) with 30 goals and 58 assists, and senior midfielder Kristin Anderson (51 goals, 14 assists, 81 draw controls). Izzo and Anderson were both second team All-PSAC selections last year.

Izzo had six goals and two assists in Tuesday's win vs. Bloomsburg, and four goals and five assists to have a hand in nine of the Lakers' 14 goals vs. ESU in the regular season.

In goal, Raelyn Tiberio has a .515 save percentage and 9.45 goals against average.