Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – The Shippensburg University women's lacrosse team never trailed in the first half of its Sunday matinee against No. 8 Gannon but could not fend off the advances of the Golden Knights, who scored three times in the first seven minutes of the second half en route to a 15-12 victory over the Lady Raiders.

Shippensburg (8-7) scored the first four goals of the game and held its nationally-ranked opponent scoreless for the first eight minutes. The Lady Raiders got a goal from senior Liz DiNunno just 39 seconds into the game and extended the lead two minutes later on a goal from sophomore Lauren Hauck.

Just 41 seconds after Hauck's goal, junior Katie Brewer tallied off a pass from sophomore Jessica Schubach that led to a Gannon timeout. Senior Gayle Kuntzmann scored at the 4:54 mark of the first half to give the Lady Raiders a four-goal advantage.

Gannon (9-6) got on the scoreboard with 21:22 to play in the first half but Shippensburg responded a timeout by head coach Mia Gambino and a quick free-position strike by junior Rachael Murray. Kuntzmann added a goal with 19:19 to play in the half with another assist from Schubach to give SU a 6-2 lead.

The two teams exchanged a pair of tallies over the next minutes – with SU getting another goal each from Kuntzmann and Murray – to bring the score to 8-4. The Golden Knights then held the Lady Raiders scoreless over the final 10 minutes of the opening frame and scored four goals of their own to tie the score at 8-8 entering halftime.

Freshman Roxanne Brown ended a three-goal run by Gannon to start the second half with her third goal of the season off an assist from Murray that got Shippensburg within two goals of the lead, but Gannon would score four of the next five tallies to lead by five with nine minutes to go. Hauck, Brewer and Kuntzmann scored second-half tallies to round out the scoring.

Shippensburg, currently unranked in the national poll, played an even game with the nationally-ranked Golden Knights for all 60 minutes. The two teams were even in groundballs (19-19), just two apart in turnovers (17-15 in favor of Gannon) and three apart in draw controls (16-13).

A number of Lady Raiders contributed to the solid production on Sunday. In goal, sophomore Meghan Kearney made 13 saves, including nine in the first half, to guide the Lady Raider defense. Sophomore Meghan Borgoyn continued her breakout season along the backlines with three caused turnovers and five groundballs. Senior Lauren Marron also added three groundballs.

Among the front-line players, Kuntzmann once again had an all-around day to remember. In addition to four goals, Kuntzmann had six caused turnovers, picked up five groundballs and won five draw controls. Schubach, Murray and Brewer each had two assists while sophomore Ali Cross earned four draw controls.

On Wednesday, the Lady Raiders will face Bloomsburg at 4 p.m. in a crucial PSAC Eastern Division contest with significant playoff implications. It is the first of two divisional games for Shippensburg to close the regular season, as the Lady Raiders finish at home on Saturday against East Stroudsburg.

All three teams are tied at 5-3 in the Eastern Division, but only two will advance to the postseason. West Chester has clinched the No. 1 seed with an 8-0 divisional record.