The Mercyhurst women’s soccer team looked to bounce back from last week’s 4-2 loss to cross-town rivals Gannon University with a win against Mansfield University at the Mercyhurst soccer field.

The rivalry game against Gannon was a very tight affair and was only decided within the final 10 minutes. Sunday’s home contest, however, was very different affair.

The Lakers, looking to gather some momentum going into their road stand next week, started with a bang, generating a whole lot of offense from the start.

The Lakers got on the board early as a sophomore Megan Macko pass found senior Jamie Laturell in the sixth minute. The midfielder turned and dribbled into the box, looked up and fired the ball toward the back post, finding the back of the net.

Not resting on their early advantage, the Lakers went to work again. Mansfield’s keeper blocked junior Jamie Schroter’s free kick in the 18th minute, but senior Taylor Hilinski applied the finish to the rebound, leaving the home side with a 2-0 advantage.

The provider became the scorer less than six minutes later as Schoter stepped up to free kick about 30 yards out from goal. She powered the ball home for her first goal of the season, and the Lakers left the field with a three-goal half-time lead.

The momentum in the first half was quite clear as the Mercyhurst defense combined to limit Mansfield to just three shots on goal.

Mansfield began to put on a little bit of pressure, generating a few more efforts in their attacking third, but the Lakers maintained the advantage on the scoreboard.

Defender sophomore Renai Medeiros played a neat one-two with freshman Danielle Braun while continuing her run into the box and applying the finish for Mercyhurst’s fourth.

With 27 minutes left to play in the game, sophomore Paige McDowell took the pass from sophomore Heather Donovan and slotted it past the Mansfield keeper to end the scoring for the Lakers.

Between the sticks, Laker keeper junior Rachel Greipsma made five saves for her second shutout of the season.

“It was great to come back from a disappointing loss and respond like this. We created a lot of chances and we’re happy to have put five away like that. Hopefully we can take this momentum into next week’s games,” said sophomore midfielder Molly Marsh.

The 8-4-1 Lakers are in action again on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 3 p.m. as they travel to Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.