SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The No. 8 Gannon women's lacrosse team snapped a 10-10 tie with the final three goals and secured a 13-10 victory at Slippery Rock Tuesday night in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opener for both programs.

Sarah Grzybinski (New Market, Md./Linganore) snapped the tie with her third goal of the second half, putting Gannon in front 11-10 with 9:03 to play. Jess Fugate (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) and Mary Eshenour (Waterloo, N.Y./Waterloo) added goals at the 7:31 and 5:50 marks for a 13-10 advantage.

Gannon won four consecutive draw controls after Slippery Rock initially tied the match at 10. The Lady Knights then secured the victory by holding the ball for the final two minutes and 39 seconds without taking a shot.

Head coach Steve Wagner's club seemed to be in complete control after dominating the first half, out-scoring Slippery Rock 7-2 in the first 30 minutes. Eshenour scored the first two goals of the match and finished the first half with four scores. The Lady Knights held the Rock scoreless for the first 13 minutes and 16 seconds, before their defense again held SRU scoreless for the final 13 minutes and 44 seconds.

It didn't take Slippery Rock long to get back into the match after the intermission. The Rock returned the favor and held Gannon scoreless for the first eight minutes and 44 seconds of the second half. In the process, SRU rattled off five consecutive goals to knot the match at seven with 24:07 remaining in regulation.

The two PSAC Western Division opponents traded the next six scores, before Gannon dominated the final 10 minutes,

Eshenour led all scorers with five goals and one assist. Fugate and Grzybinski added hat tricks. Rachel DerCola (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and Caitlyn Fisher (Cypress, Texas/Cy-Fair) completed the scoring with one goal each.

Fugate and Fisher dished out two assists apiece. Margaret Maslyn (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan Academy) recorded eight saves between the pipes.

Gannon improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC Western Division with Tuesday's victory. Slippery Rock dropped to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in conference play. The Lady Knights return to action Saturday, March 19 against Edinboro at Gannon University Field. The home opener is slated for 1 p.m.

For a complete box score from Tuesday's Gannon-Slippery Rock women's lacrosse match, please click here.