woodworth intro

Women's Lacrosse Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Gannon, Mercyhurst Meet in Showdown of Local Rivals at McConnell Family Stadium

MERCYHURST LAKERS (5-3, 2-2 PSAC West) at GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (4-6, 2-3 PSAC West)
FIELD/SITE:  McConnell Family Stadium / Erie, Pa.
DATE/TIME:  Tuesday, April 5, 2022 / 4:00 p.m.
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ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon women's lacrosse team returns to PSAC action on Tuesday hosting crosstown rival Mercyhurst. The action gets underway at 4:00 p.m. at McConnell Family Stadium. The Golden Knights come in with a 4-6 overall record and are 2-3 in league play. Mercyhurst owns records of 5-3 and 2-2, respectively.
 
Both teams are coming off identical 12-11 losses on Saturday. Mercyhurst played a conference match vs. Indiana(Pa.). Gannon, meanwhile, traveled to Buffalo for its final non-conference contest at D'Youville. After trailing for most of the contest Gannon scored four straight goals to start the fourth quarter to take an 11-10 lead. Rachel Tufts' (Erie, Pa./McDowell) third goal of the match with 1:21 remaining gave Gannon an 11-10 lead, the first lead for the Golden Knights since scoring the first goal of the match. D'Youville would send the contest into overtime with a goal with 22 seconds to play, and the Saints accounted for the game-winner just 31 seconds into overtime.
 
Rallying late has become the modus operandi for Gannon of late. The Golden Knights faced a large second-half deficit vs. Seton Hill recently. They trailed the Griffins by nine goals and pulled to within three goals before dropping a 15-10 decision. Similarly, last Wednesday a strong Slippery Rock team held a 13-6 over Gannon at the half. They would proceed to outscore SRU 10-2 in the second half. Macy Hepditch (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) completed the comeback with her career-high seventh goal with just 12 seconds remaining as Gannon claimed a 16-15 win.
     
Hepditch's career day presented third-year head coach Jennifer Pawlowski with her first career win at McConnell Family Stadium as Gannon's head coach. The sophomore added an assist to give her eight points, also a career high.
 
Now Gannon looks to snap a lengthy losing streak to Mercyhurst. Gannon's last victory over the Lakers came in 2013, an 11-8 victory. Since then Mercyhurst has won the last seven meetings.
 
The Golden Knights opened the season with a 13-10 loss at Shepherd before running off two wins in North Carolina. They recorded an 11-8 win at Lenoir-Rhyne, holding the Bears scoreless in the second half, then won a 13-12 game in overtime at Catawba. They opened at home against Bloomsburg, dropping a 20-9 decision to the Huskies, before a 15-8 loss to Lock Haven. They snapped the two-game losing streak in impressive fashion with a 23-0 win over Edinboro, the third shutout in program history. The victory over Slippery Rock also broke a two-game losing streak, with the Seton Hill setback preceeded by a 17-6 loss at Indiana(Pa.).
 
Pawlowski leads a young team that continues to grow, showcasing Woodworth, the 2021 PSAC West Freshman of the Year. The sophomore leads the team with 26 goals, adding seven assists for a team-high 33 points. She earned second team All-PSAC West honors a year ago after leading Gannon in goals (40), assists (60), and points (46). She ranked sixth in the PSAC in goals.
 
With teams paying particular attention to Woodworth, Hepditch, Stevens and Rachel Tufts (Erie, Pa./McDowell) have stepped up to help shoulder the scoring load. Hepditch now has 19 goals and a team-high 10 assists for 29 points. Stevens, a freshman, has 25 goals and two assists for 27 points, while Tufts adds 18 goals and a pair of assists for 20 points. Alli Jacobs (Eden, N.Y./Eden) has contributed 13 goals. Tufts led the PSAC in goals in 2020 with 22 and points with 27.
 
Pawlowski has employed both Cheyenne Jess (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) and Kendra Delissio (Export, Pa./Franklin Regional) in goal. Jess returned in goal against D'Youville and went the entire game in goal. She has 52 saves and a 14.79 GAA in 324 minutes. Delissio has played 283 minutes and has a 9.98 GAA.
 
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Players Mentioned

Alli Jacobs

#4 Alli Jacobs

M
5' 6"
Sophomore
Cheyenne Jess

#00 Cheyenne Jess

G
5' 8"
Junior
Psychology
Rachel Tufts

#12 Rachel Tufts

M
5' 7"
Junior
Sport and Exercise Science
Kendra Delissio

#29 Kendra Delissio

G
5' 3"
Freshman
Nursing
Macy Hepditch

#23 Macy Hepditch

M
5' 7"
Freshman
Undecided

Players Mentioned

Alli Jacobs

#4 Alli Jacobs

5' 6"
Sophomore
M
Cheyenne Jess

#00 Cheyenne Jess

5' 8"
Junior
Psychology
G
Rachel Tufts

#12 Rachel Tufts

5' 7"
Junior
Sport and Exercise Science
M
Kendra Delissio

#29 Kendra Delissio

5' 3"
Freshman
Nursing
G
Macy Hepditch

#23 Macy Hepditch

5' 7"
Freshman
Undecided
M