The Gannon University lacrosse team is sitting at 2-4 in the PSAC with an overall record of 5-6 after a win and a loss on Friday and Saturday.
Friday afternoon the Knights traveled to Shippensburg to take on the Raiders in a high-scoring matchup, which resulted in a 16-13 win for Gannon.
It was a back-and-forth matchup for the Knights and Raiders but Gannon managed to keep the lead for the majority of the game.
The big scorers of the game were junior Tessa Mitchell with four, sophomore Leilani King with four, freshman Kayla Shields with a hat trick and senior Becky Hilker found the back of the net twice.
Both teams came out the gate scoring as Gannon netted three goals and Shippensburg two in the opening 12 minutes. King, junior Ashley Mozingo and sophomore Kierstyn Haight each scored for the Knights.
Shippensburg responded with four straight scores, making it 6-3 and then Gannon answered with five more and never trailed again.
The Knights and Raiders both scored two more before going into the half, 10-8, in favor of Gannon.
Shippensburg opened the second half, tying it at 12. Gannon’s King then answered with an unassisted goal.
The Knights were able to hold the Raiders to 13 goals after they scored one more with 19 minutes, 58 seconds left to make the score 14-13. Then Hilker and Mitchell each added an insurance goal to cap the scoring for the afternoon.
Inside the net, freshman Kat Martinelli aided the Knights with a career-high 13 saves, 11 of which were in the second half. Hilker also added one assist.
The next day, the Knights were on the road again traveling to West Chester for what was a complete turn of events from the day before. Coming off the win against Shippensburg, the Knights were unable to sweep the weekend and lost for the eighth consecutive time to the Rams, 20-6.
Mitchell notched a hat trick to lead Gannon while Shields, Haight and Mozingo each added one goal.
Shields scored 4:38 into the first half off a pass from King, but West Chester responded with four straight goals to make the score 6-1.
Gannon then added two more tallies with goals from Mitchell and Haight, but the Rams netted six more, giving them a 12-3 lead going into halftime.
Mozingo opened the second half with a goal 55 seconds in. West Chester then went on an 8-0 scoring run, which put their scoring to an end. The Knights went about 25 minutes until Mitchell netted two goals to end the scoring for Gannon.
Beyond the scoreboard, Hilker added one assist and Mitchell had her third consecutive hat trick.
Up next, the Knights travel to Greensburg Wednesday to take on Seton Hill in a 4 p.m. matchup.
BRANDON JACES
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