MANSFIELD - The Mansfield Mountaineers women's soccer team was able to close out their season at home on Saturday morning against Mercyhurst despite less-than-ideal weather conditions nagging the two teams. The Lakers came away with a 3-0 win to end their regular season with a record of 8-9-1 (6-9-1 PSAC). 

In the first half of play, a nice give-and-go between Eleni Gebbia and Alexis Bittel in the 13th minute looked promising, however Mercyhurst keeper Vilde Wold was able to come off of her line and scoop the ball up.  The two junior midfielders set up a quick corner kick in the 20th minute of play with solid execution. Gebbia played the ball into the box where it found the foot of Sicilia, who faced some heavy pressure from a Laker defender. 

Mercyhurst answered on a free kick just one minute later. Emilie Bock headed a well-placed free kick to the right side of the net to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead with 23 minutes to play in the first half. 

Bittel tried her hand on a mid-range kick with seven minutes remaining in the half, but Wold was able to slide across her line and stop the shot. 

Cay McNichol earned the Mounties excellent position on a free kick as she was tackled from behind about 30 yards from the goal.  The free kick found Gebbia in front of the net, whose header drifted just a bit right of the net. The half came to an end with Mercyhurst clinging onto their one goal lead. 

Right off the bat, Moir faced some heavy pressure from the Lakers to start the second half. Bock was looking for her second goal of the day, however her shot rocketed off of Moir's shinguard. The play was kept alive when Veera Viitikko was able to collect the rebound, but her shot was just left of the post. 

After a short trip upfield, Maya Bauer turned it around and brought the ball right back into the Mounties defensive third. After racing down the middle of the field, Bauer lifted a shot from the top of the 18-yard box over the head of Moir to double the Laker lead with over 40 minutes left. 

Following a series of passes down the left wing of Mercyhurst's zone, Bittel struck a great turnaround shot from the top of the 18 which was saved.

With three minutes remaining, Stephanie Moir made a save on a free kick from Claire Ritzmann. She ended the game with 16 saves, her second-most on the year, and fourth all-time in the Mansfield history books. She closes out her freshman year campaign with 141 saves, ranking fourth in the nation (ranking third was Alexis Feely from Lees-McRae with 142), and breaking the single-season saves record at Mansfield. 

The Mountaineers end 2018 with a record of 1-15 (1-15 PSAC).