BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – For the second time in the last three meetings, #17 Mercy University came into Steph Pettit Stadium with a top-20 ranking and the Bloomsburg lacrosse team handed the Mavericks a decisive loss. Bloomsburg used balanced scoring and a strong defensive effort for a 10-6-win, Saturday afternoon. The Huskies improved to 4-0 for the year and the Mavericks dropped to 1-5.
 
The Huskies improved to 3-1 all-time against the Mavericks and this is the second time Bloomsburg has defeated the Mavericks with a top-20 ranking. In 2022, Bloomsburg used a wire-to-wire 14-13 win over Mercy when the Mavericks were ranked #12 at the time.
 

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The Mavericks officially struck first in the game as Kelly Rosenfeld scored with 6:23 to play in the first quarter after Bloomsburg had a goal disallowed on its possession prior. The lead lasted for most of the first quarter until Brianna Austin (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) scored her first of the game to tie the game 1-1 with 33 seconds in the opening period.
 
Graduate student Kate Roberts (Lehman, Pa./Lake Lehman) gave Bloomsburg the lead for good as she scored just 36 seconds into the second quarter with her third tally of the season. Madison Coyle (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) pushed the lead to 3-1 with her 11th of the season at the 13:41 mark thanks to an assist from Tori Bruno (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley). Junior Lauren Foley (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) made a save on a free position shot by Leah Hansen, the Mavericks' leading goal scorer, to keep a two-goal lead for Bloomsburg. Rosenfeld drew a foul with 12:04 to go in the quarter and found the back of the for the second time to cut the lead to 3-2 but four more saves over the next eight minutes from Foley kept the advantage in favor of the Huskies. Coyle extended the Huskies' lead with a free-position goal as the Bloomsburg was playing a woman-down with 2:53 to play in the period.
 
Foley made another save in the quarter, but the Mavericks crept a goal closer as Sydney Corley scored with 20 seconds to play before the break to cut the lead to 4-3 at halftime.
 
With 11:42 to play in the third, the Mavericks were on a clear attempt but Maya Fulmer (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) was in the perfect position to intercept goalie Olivia LaMoncia's pass in front of the cage and immediately score to give the Huskies a 5-3 lead. Kayla Stressman (Harleysville, Pa./North Penn) pushed the Huskies' advantage to 6-3 at the 6:37 mark in the third period.
 
Corley cut the lead to 6-4 with her second of the game, but Cassidy Griffin (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem North) immediately had the answer for Bloomsburg as Amanda Stoll (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) won the draw control and Griffin drew a shooting space foul on the possession. Griffin scored on the free position shot for the 7-4 lead with 4:26 to play in the quarter. Roberts extended the lead to 8-4 with her second of the game with 24 seconds left before the break.
 
Mercy opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a goal from Andrea Mott but back-to-back goals from Stressman pushed the Bloomsburg lead to 10-5 with 7:08 to play. The Mavericks got one back with 4:06 to play in regulation from Brooke Zarou and Coach Hertz called a timeout to regroup her Huskies.
 
The timeout gave the Huskies a chance to breathe and the defense kept the Mavericks off of the board for the final four minutes as the Huskies caused the final turnover with 36 seconds to play with Kristen Lee (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock South) knocking the ball out of the stick of Hansen and allowing Bloomsburg to run out the clock.
 
Stressman led the Huskies with three goals while Bruno dished out three assists. Roberts and Coyle each finished the day with two goals.
 
Defensively, the Huskies kept the Mavericks' leading scorer off the board for the game and caused 18 of the Mavericks' 22 turnovers. Lee led the effort with four CTs while Amanda Biehl (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) and Julia Cote (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) had three. Lee picked up six ground balls and Coyle had four.
 
Stoll led the Huskies with four draw controls while the Mavericks won the draw control battle 12-8.
 
Foley finished the day with a season-best 15 saves for the win in the cage for the Huskies.
 
Bloomsburg returns to action on Wednesday as the Huskies open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action against Shepherd at Steph Pettit Stadium. The opening draw is slated for 2:00 p.m.