Millersville, Pa. - The Millersville University women's lacrosse team overcame a four-goal deficit at halftime and outscored No. 14 Mercy in the second half, but it feel just short of completing the upset on Thursday afternoon on Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium. The Mavericks entered the game allowing fewer than 10 goals per game and averaging more than 15 goals per game. 

The Marauders fall to 7-5 after their final non-conference game of the season, while Mercy improves to 9-4 and snaps a two-game losing streak.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Millersville was down 9-5 at halftime but came out of the half firing on all cylinders. The Mavericks managed to contain Genevieve Speights in the first half, but she scored just 30 seconds into the second half and then tallied her second-straight goal less than six minutes later to cut the deficit to two. Gillian Zimmerman made it a one-goal game at the 22:29 mark and three and a half minutes later Samantha Kreis scored the first goal of her collegiate career to tie the game, 9-9.
• Katherine Sanchez's 44th goal of the season one minute later gave Mercy the lead again, but Sara Burney knotted the score once more, 10-10, thanks to the first assist of Kreis' collegiate career. Nearly five minutes passed before Casey Shimborske's first goal of the game put the Mavericks ahead again. Mercy tallied another goal just over two minutes later to go ahead, 12-10, with 7:25 left on the clock. Speights scored off a helper from Grace Cobaugh with 6:14 remaining in the game to cut the deficit to one. Unfortunately, the Maverick defense put a halt to any Marauder momentum and Hunter Isnardi's sixth goal of the game and 66th of the season with 1:47 left on the clock gave Mercy some breathing room as it held on for the win.
• Zimmerman opened the scoring at the 28:30 mark in the first half, but the Mavericks rattled off three-straight goals to take a 3-1 lead. Back-to-back goals by Cobaugh and Erin Fagan tied the game, but Mercy quickly regained the lead off a goal from Isnardi. Zimmerman followed with a goal of her own to once again tie it, but the Mavericks scored five of the last six goals in the first half to bring a 9-5 lead into halftime.

COACH CINDY WILSON QUOTES
• "I'm really proud of the way that we played. I know the final score does not necessarily reflect a win, but we rallied around each other and played well together. We played well throughout the game but really turned it up in the second half."
• "Coming out of the half, we knew we could compete and had confidence. Regardless of what the scoreboard said at halftime they had a fire lit under them and came out and played really well."
• "We had some different people stepping up today. A lot of people played the roles they normally play, but some new people came in and showed us what they can do which was really exciting to see."
• "There really are only positives that come out of this. It doesn't have an impact in terms of playoffs, but it really shows what we are capable of. We're going to use this to fuel us going into the rest of our PSAC games."

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
• Genevieve Speights led the attack with four points, three goals and one assist, while Zimmerman also notched a hat trick and Grace Cobaugh recorded three points off of one goal and two assists. Cobaugh also won a team-high four draw controls, while Zimmerman was not far behind with three. Jasa Lorah scooped up a game-high four ground balls and, along with Nathalie Sell, caused a game-high two turnovers.
• Shannon Davis made 10 stops in net, including some key saves with the game tied late in the second half. 
• Hunter Isnardi and Katherine Sanchez were the duo that carried the Mavericks to victory. The two combined for 10 of Mercy's goals and 12 points, with Isnardi winning 15 of her team's 16 draw controls. 

NOTES
• The Mavericks held an advantage in shots (31-25), shots on goal (23-17), draw controls (16-10) and turned the ball over 18 times compared to the Marauders' 19 turnovers. Millersville had an edge in saves (10-6), clears (25-22) and free-position shots (10-3). Both teams collected 22 ground balls. 
• This marks the Marauders' third game of the season against a nationally-ranked opponent, with their 11 goals being the most they have scored this season against such opponents.
• The all-time series between these two teams is now tied, 2-2. Mercy maintains a slim lead in goals, 52-49. 

UP NEXT
• Millersville will play five-straight PSAC games to finish off the regular season, beginning with Mercyhurst on Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. on Chryst Field at Biemsderfer Stadium.