PAINESVILLE, Ohio - The No. 10 Gannon women's lacrosse team scored the first five goals and produced a running clock late in the first half en route to an 18-6 non-conference victory against Lake Erie Tuesday night at a cold Jack H. Britt Memorial Stadium.

In the process, Gannon clinched its 16th consecutive winning season. The Lady Knights have never had a losing record during the program's 16-year history.

Gannon wasted little time jumping on Lake Erie, scoring 43 seconds into the contest on Jess Fugate's (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) unassisted goal. Mary Eshenour (Waterloo, N.Y./Waterloo) followed with three of the next four scores. Her last one at the 21:43 mark capped an opening 5-0 run.

The two teams swapped the next four goals, before Gannon put the match away early by ending the half on a 6-1 run. Nikki Schattinger's (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) tally with 4:20 left in the half gave the Lady Knights a 13-3 lead and a running clock. Gannon regained control of the ball with 3:29 showing on the scoreboard and ran the clock out without taking a shot.

Lake Erie evened the playing field in the second half, out-shooting Gannon 11-10 in the final 30 minutes. However, the Lady Knights managed to out-score the Storm 5-3 after the intermission to account for the final 18-6 score.

The Gannon three-headed attack of Fugate, Rachel DerCola (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and Eshenour led the way offensively. Fugate posted a season-high seven points with four goals and three assists. DerCola chipped in two goals and a season-high four assists. Eshenour led all scorers with five goals.

Sarah Grzybinski (New Market, Md./Linganore) recorded her fourth hat trick of the season with three goals. Schattinger, Caitlyn Fisher (Cypress, Texas/Cy-Fair), Christie Valentine (Friendship, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) and Jenna Hughes (Morgantown, W.Va./University) found the back of the net one time each.

Gannon out-shot Lake Erie 41-17, including a 31-6 edge in the first half. Margaret Maslyn (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan Academy) needed only four saves to preserve the victory, all coming in the second half.

Head coach Steve Wagner's club improved to 9-4-1 overall with its second consecutive victory. Lake Erie dropped to 2-7. The Lady Knights now conclude the regular season with three consecutive home matches. The next contest is scheduled for Friday, April 15 against Millersville at Gannon University Field. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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