Nov. 9, 2007

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Senior captain Adrienne Sluga gave Mercyhurst all the offense it needed as the Lakers defeated Quincy 1-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Playoffs Friday. Mercyhurst moves on to play the top seed in the Great Lakes Region, undefeated Grand Valley State, Sunday at 1 p.m.

Mercyhurst and Quincy entered the game evenly matched and familiar with each other. Quincy won a 3-2 overtime meeting early in the season in which the Lakers held a 15-13 advantage in shots.

But the Lakers controlled the action this time although it took 60 minutes for Mercyhurst to finally break the scoreless tie. After keeping the pressure on Quincy goalkeeper Toni Eye for the majority of the contest, junior Sarah Powell found Sluga in the center of the field and she ripped a shot from 19 yards out for the game-winner.

Mercyhurst controlled the flow for much of the first half, creating numerous scoring opportunities. The Lakers, who scored twice off of corner kicks in the first meeting between the two schools, almost scored on a couple more in the first half.

At the 23:00 mark, Powell picked up a loose ball off of a corner kick but was uncharacteristically unable to finish. She had another opportunity later in the half off of another corner kick, but her laser shot was pushed over the crossbar by Eye.

Mercyhurst posted 10 shots in the first half, four on goal, while Quincy had just two shots, none on goal.

Quincy almost took the lead on a couple of opportunities early in the second half, but junior goalkeeper Rebecca Heintzman came up with big stops each time. Quincy's Jenna Boyko and Beth Hettenhausen each had 1-on-1 scoring chances, but Heintzman charged out to keep Boyko from getting a shot off and she made a kick save on Hettenhausen's opportunity.

After Mercyhurst broke through, Quincy's offense woke up. Kelly Huelsing and Becky Fleming, who was a Daktronics First Team All-Region player, each had shots bounce off the crossbar, but the Laker defense settled down and did not give the Lady Hawks many more chances to tie the game.

For the game, Mercyhurst held a 15-10 advantage in shots and 7-3 in shots on goal. The Lakers also had three corner kicks compared to two for Quincy.

Mercyhurst, now 15-4-2 on the year, moves on to the second round of the NCAA Playoffs and will meet host Grand Valley State, at 19-0-0, Sunday at 1 p.m. Mercyhurst and Grand Valley State have played twice this year, including a contest just a week ago, and Grand Valley has won each match by a 4-0 score.