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Cicerelle Ties ESU Career Points Record in Commanding Victory over Shippensburg

EAST STROUDSBURG – Graduate student Hana Cicerelle entered the day needing eight points to tie the East Stroudsburg University lacrosse program record of 252 career points. The native of Broadway, New Jersey accomplished just that.

Cicerelle tallied five goals and three points to tie Lauren Nunes’ (2013-16) ESU points record to lead the No. 9 Warriors (9-2, 8-2 PSAC East) past the Shippensburg Raiders (5-8, 5-7 PSAC East) in the regular-season finale and first game on the new turf surface at Whitenight Field by a score of 18-2.

On Saturday, ESU – the two seed in the PSAC East – will host PSAC East third-seed Bloomsburg at 1:00 p.m. in the PSAC quarterfinal round at Whitenight Field. The winner will advance to play first seed West Chester on May 5 in the PSAC semifinals.

Cicerelle’s eight-point day matched her career-high. She previously reached the eight-point mark against Edinboro, LIU Post and Mercyhurst all during the 2019 season.

The tough Warrior defense conceded just two goals, the lowest amount of the season and the fewest goals allowed by an ESU team since the Warriors shutout West Virginia Wesleyan in the season opener of the 2016 season. Leading the defense was graduate student goalkeeper Tatyana Pettewaywho made seven saves in her 55th career victory during her tenure in the Poconos. The native of Nanuet, N.Y. now has 717 saves during her career and needs just 21 more saves to become ESU’s all-time leader in the category.

Along with Cicerelle’s game-leading eight points, eight additional Warriors registered points. Gianna LeDuc totaled four goals for ESU, while Kiki Fitzpatrick and Emily Mitartonda added a hat trick each. Shannon Dent and Mary Fitzsimmons posted a pair of assists, while Jameson Kernaghan and Brooke Rickey each found the back of the cage once.

Kayleigh Pokrivka caused three turnovers, which included her 100th of the her career. She ranks 13th among active players in Division II in career caused turnovers with 102.

The Warriors held advantages in most categories, including shots on goal (28-9), clears (17/18 – 10/18), ground balls (24-17), draw controls (12-10) and free position shots (8-1).

ESU built a 3-0 lead before Shippensburg struck for its first goal with 23:11 left in the first half. Fitzpatrick and LeDuc each followed with tallies on the scoreboard to make it a 5-1 contest. The Raiders halted the Warrior run with a score with 7:54remaining in the opening half.

After an ESU timeout, the Warriors would not allow a single goal the rest of the way, holding Shippensburg off the scoreboard for a total of 37:53 of game clock. After the timeout, ESU posted a 4-0 scoring run to take a 9-2 advantage into the halftime intermission.

The Warriors padded its lead with nine second half goals, including four of Cicerelle’s five goals on the afternoon to earn the dominant 18-2 victory.

Second seed ESU will begin its attempt for its second-ever PSAC Championship on Saturday at Whitenight Field against Bloomsburg. The opening draw is slated for 1:00 p.m.

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