ERIE, Pa. – Macy Hepditch's (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) unassisted goal with 12 seconds remaining lifted Gannon women's lacrosse to a 16-15 come-from-behind victory over Slippery Rock on Wednesday evening at McConnell Family Stadium. The win was head coach Jennifer Pawlowski's first career home win as the head coach at GU.
 
The win helped Gannon to a 4-5 overall record, including 2-3 in league play. Slippery Rock slipped to 6-3 on the year, including 2-2 in the league.
 
Hepditch was on the attack all evening for the Knights, finishing the game with seven goals and one assists on 11 total shots. The sophomore set new career highs in shots (11), shots on goal (9), goals (7) and points (8) during the victory. McKenna Woodworth (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads) also came off the bench to chip in three goals and one assists (4 points) for the Knights, while Caroline Stevens (Syracuse, N.Y./Liverpool) (3), Christina Zeher (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) (2) and Alli Jacobs (Eden, N.Y./Eden) (1) also found the back of the net in the Gannon win.
 
Gannon fell behind by a 13-6 margin in the opening half after Slippery Rock outscored the Knights 10-3 in the final 18 minutes of the opening half. Jamie DiCarlo led the way for Slippery Rock in the opening half with seven goals and one assist in the first 30 minutes of action.
 
The teams traded goals at the midway point of the third quarter to make the score 14-7 at the 6:23 mark, but from that point, the momentum changed in favor of the home team. Over the next 21 minutes of action, Gannon outscored the Rock 9-1, including a stretch of seven-consecutive goals to close a 14-7 Slippery Rock advantage to a 14-14 tie at the 9:10 mark of the fourth. Hepditch scored three times during the stretch, while Woodworth scored twice.
 
Slippery Rock regained the lead with 6:30 remaining when Brooke Kelly assisted on a goal from Katie Dlugosz to snap Gannon's 7-0 scoring run. That margin would stick for the next two-plus minutes, before Woodworth broke free in front of the Slippery Rock goalkeeper and found the back of the net for the third time in the second half to once again tie the game at 15-15.
 
With the game likely heading to overtime, Hepditch gave Gannon its first and only lead of the game with 12 seconds remaining. The Knights followed the goal by taking control of the final draw and the celebration began as the horn sounded.
 
Statistically, the game was evenly matched with Slippery Rock holding a slim advantage in shots on goal (28-25) and turnovers forced (16-13). Gannon held advantage in saves (13-9), clears (20-16) and ground balls (19-17) and draw controls (18-17).
 
Gannon also had 11 free-position shots and found the back of the net on nine of them.
 
Cheyenne Jess (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) played the final 37 minutes for Gannon in goal, recording 10 saves to earn the victory. She allowed just six goals, including only two in the second half.
 
Gannon will now step out of conference play and travel to Buffalo, New York on Saturday for a contest with D'Youville. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. The Knights return home next Tuesday to host Mercyhurst beginning at 4 p.m.