ERIE, Pa. - Taryn Millerd (Shortsville, N.Y./Midlakes) continued her recent tear with seven goals as the No. 8 Gannon women's lacrosse team advanced to the 2010 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Final Four with a 15-9 victory at No. 4 Mercyhurst Tuesday afternoon.

Head coach Steve Wagner's squad heads to West Chester Friday, April 30 for a PSAC semifinal match-up with the host Golden Rams. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. No. 6 West Chester posted a 12-11 triple-overtime victory during the two programs' previous meeting April 10 at Gannon University Field. The Golden Rams tied the match with nine seconds left in regulation, before earning the overtime decision.

Friday's second semifinal between Bloomsburg and No. 3 Lock Haven begins at 4 p.m. The PSAC title match is scheduled for Saturday, May 1 at 1 p.m.

Gannon never trailed during Tuesday's PSAC Quarterfinal. The Lady Knights led from start to finish with the exception of being tied at two. Millerd snapped the tie with the start of a brilliant afternoon, scoring off an assist from Rachel DerCola (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) with 16:33 left in the first half.

The two teams split the next two goals, before Millerd and Mary Eshenour (Waterloo, N.Y./Waterloo) started to separate the rivals. Millerd scored back-to-back goals on free-position shots. Eshenour followed with two free-position goals of her own. Her second with 41 seconds left in the half gave the Lady Knights an 8-3 advantage. Mercyhurst's Alisha Catalino completed the first-half scoring with 20 seconds showing on the clock, sending the Lakers into the break with an 8-4 deficit.

Gannon kept its foot on the pedal after the intermission, scoring the first four goals of the second half. DerCola netted her only score of the afternoon 2:28 after the face-off. Millerd then took over, pouring in three consecutive goals. The first two were unassisted with the final one coming on a free-position shot. The 4-0 run gave the Lady Knights a commanding 12-4 edge with 19:42 to play.

Mercyhurst tried to rally with a 4-1 run, but back-to-back goals by Sarah Grzybinski (New Market, Md./Linganore) and Jess Fugate (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) in the span of 2:09 pushed the Gannon lead back to 15-8.

Melissa Leonhard's second goal with 2:23 remaining capped the scoring. Fugate won the ensuing draw control and the Lady Knights ran out the clock.

Millerd led all scorers with seven goals, one assist and eight points. The senior midfielder has 23 goals in the last three matches, netting seven goals against Edinboro and nine at Slippery Rock in Gannon's final two regular-season matches.

Eshenour tallied four goals. DerCola, Fugate, Grzybinski and Molly SanJule (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) chipped in one score each. Acacia Cook (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North Syracuse) recorded four saves between the pipes, including three in the second half.

Gannon moved to 12-6 overall, reaching 12 victories for the second consecutive season. In the process, Wagner improved to 6-3 all-time against the Lakers. Mercyhurst dropped to 16-2 and now awaits a possible NCAA Division II Tournament bid.

For a complete box score from Tuesday's Gannon-Mercyhurst PSAC women's lacrosse quarterfinal match, please click here.