ERIE, Pa. – The eighth-ranked Bloomsburg field hockey team rolled to its sixth-straight win with a 4-1 victory over Mercyhurst in the Huskies Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opener Saturday afternoon. The Huskies improved to 6-0 on the year and 1-0 in conference play, while the Lakers dropped to 2-4 for the year and 0-1 in the PSAC.

The Huskies out-shot the Lakers 14-3, including a 12-3 advantage on shots on goal. Bloomsburg had the 12-4 advantage on penalty corners.

Junior Jackie Nevel (Nescopeck, Pa./Berwick Area) made two saves in her sixth win of the season.

The Huskies got things going early as junior Meg Barnard (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) scored on a penalty stroke just 3:58 into action. Bloomsburg had another chance with three to go in the first quarter with the Huskies' first penalty corner. Junior Bella Culp (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) got a shot off but was stopped by the Laker goalie, Kayla Desormeau. The Huskies were awarded another penalty corner on the play but could not get a shot off and took a 1-0 lead into the second quarter.

Bloomsburg pushed its lead to 2-0 as Kate Ferguson (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) finished a pass from Culp after another Husky penalty corner. Elena Snodgrass (Lansdale, Pa./Methacton) got another shot off with just over a minute to play in the quarter but was turned away, and Bloomsburg settled for a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Snodgrass finally found the back of the cage with less than two to play in the quarter to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead with a quarter to go.

Culp got on the board five minutes into the fourth quarter after Jessica Serafin (Worcester, Pa./Methacton) had an initial shot saved. The Huskies retained possession, and Culp found the back of the cage for the 4-0 lead.

 The Lakers got one back, but it was too late to mount a comeback as Jenna Cavalieri scored with two minutes remaining in regulation. Cavalieri's shot was the last of the game as Bloomsburg walked about with the 4-1 win.

Culp led the Huskies with four shots, while Snodgrass and Aydan McFarland (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg Area) had two.

The Huskies briefly depart from conference play when they host St. Thomas Aquinas College on Monday for a 4:00 p.m. contest at Steph Pettit Stadium.