Fails-SRU2
Sarah Fails had two goals and an assist in playoff win over SRU.
3
Slippery Rock SRU (12-4-3, 11-3-2)
5
Winner Gannon GAN (12-2-3, 11-2-3)
Slippery Rock SRU
(12-4-3, 11-3-2)
3
Final
5
Gannon GAN
(12-2-3, 11-2-3)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Slippery Rock SRU 1 2 3
Gannon GAN 3 2 5

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Fails Scores Twice as Gannon Outscores SRU 5-3 to Reach PSAC Semifinals

ERIE, Pa. – After playing 110 minutes without a goal on Saturday, Gannon and Slippery Rock returned to the pitch on Tuesday in a PSAC Quarterfinal round match. Goals were plenty this time around, with the Lady Knights outscoring the highest-scoring team in the PSAC to advance to the semifinals with a 5-3 victory.
 
Gannon, seeded second in the Western Division, improved to 12-2-3 while third-seeded Slippery Rock falls to 12-4-3. The Lady Knights are making their first appearance in the PSAC Tournament since 2017, and tenth appearance overall. They have now made the semifinals five times, but are looking to advance to the title match for the first time. Slippery Rock came in as the defending PSAC champion, capturing the crown in 2019.
 
The Lady Knights now move on to face a Millersville team which played Kutztown, the top seed in the Eastern Division and ranked third in Division II, to a 1-1 tie. The fourth-seeded Marauders advanced by virtue of a 5-4 win in a shootout. Bloomsburg, the number seed in the PSAC East, earned the right to host the Final Four after posting a 1-0 win over West Chester. The Huskies will play the top seed from the PSAC West, Mercyhurst, in the first semifinal on Friday, Nov. 12 at 12:30 p.m. The Lakers handed Edinboro a 2-0 defeat. Gannon and Millersville will follow at the 3:00 p.m. Friday's winners meet in the 2021 PSAC Championship game on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 1:00 p.m. 
 
Against Slippery Rock, the Lady Knights also had to overcome being without part of their coaching staff, including head coach Colin Petersen, who received a red card on Saturday. Assistant coach Danny Lowton stepped in as the acting head coach vs. SRU, with men's soccer head coach Billy Colton providing assistance.
 
Tuesday's match got off to a wild start with two goals in a span of the first five minutes. Gannon opened the scoring at 3:08 as Taylor Lewis (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) took a pass from Sarah Fails (Girard, Pa./Villa Maria), and after a few dribbles, blasted a shot into the left side of the net past SRU goalkeeper Emma Yoder for her team-leading 11th goal of the season.
 
Slippery Rock answered just moments later at 4:59 following a corner kick. Katy Ericson's corner was headed by Sydney Patrick to Jordyn Minda on the left wing. Minda pushed the ball past GU goalkeeper Kennedy Solymosi (Eastlake, Ohio/Lake Catholic) into the back of the net for her eighth goal.
 
Gannon took a 2-1 lead at 15:09 courtesy of a penalty kick. Gabby Boden (Butler, Pa./Butler) was fouled in the box. Senior Megan McCartney (Chicora, Pa./Karns City) took the penalty kick and beat Yoder to the high right side, with Yoder just getting a piece of it. It was her fifth goal of the season.
 
The lead grew to 3-1 as Kayla Bevacqua (Welland, Ontario/Notre Dame) got into the scoring act. SRU would turn the ball over in its own end, with Taylor Lewis (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) passing across the field to an open Bevacqua on the left side of the net. One dribble later, she beat Yoder to the left side of the net for her fifth goal.    
 
Fails scored twice in the early stages of the second half as Gannon's lead grew to 5-1. The junior's first goal came on a pass from Lewis. She headed the ball over Yoder from in front of the goal at 51:53.
 
Fails' second goal, her sixth of the season, gave Gannon a comfortable four-goal advantage at the 66:54 mark. Bevacqua's free kick from midfield found Fails on the right side, and she fired a shot from ten yards out into the back of the net.
 
Slippery Rock would rally with a pair of goals, one coming just 50 seconds after Fails' goal. Julia Mascara scored her third goal of the year, assisted by Minda and Sydney Patrick off a corner kick at 67:44. With just over six minutes to play, Maddie DeLucio registered her first goal of the season, assisted by Georgia Nagucki.
 
Gannon would hold off The Rock the rest of the way to remain undefeated over the last nine matches, with eight wins and a tie in that stretch. In fact, the last time GU lost came to Slippery Rock on Oct. 6. The five goals tied a season high and were the most scored against Slippery Rock since 2016. Gannon had not allowed a goal in the previous five matches, and has still allowed just 14 this season.

The Lady Knights finished with a 20-12 advantage in shots, including 11-5 in shots on goal. Slippery Rock had 13 corner kicks to Gannon's three, keeping Solymosi hustling in the net most of the match. The senior had two saves compared to six for Yoder. 
 
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