ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's water polo team fell to Mercyhurst 11-2 on Tuesday night at the Junker Center pool.

The Lions trailed 4-0 after one quarter and 8-0 at the half, but the deficit would have been larger had it not been for the work of Kara Stegmann (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area).

The freshman goalie deflected away several point-blank attempts, and even stopped a penalty shot later in the contest.

Behrend battled after the break, outscoring the Lakers 2-1 in the third period.  Paula Rusca (Chicago, IL/Whitney Young) scored a beautiful goal from the corner with the shot clock winding down.

Moments later, freshman Marissa Duvall (Latrobe, PA/Greater Latrobe) scored a one-time goal at the shot clock buzzer.

Cailin Jope led the Lakers with three goals.

The Lions will travel to California to take on Azusa Pacific in game one of the Claremont Convergence on Saturday, March 8. Game-time is set for 1:20 p.m., eastern.