Lacrosse Takes Down Mercyhurst for First Win of 2026

Friday, February 20

Erie, Pa.

12 p.m.

Xavier University

1-2, 0-0

Mercyhurst

0-2, 0-0

Xavier

Mercyhurst

Lacrosse Takes Down Mercyhurst for First Win of 2026

02.20.26 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Samantha Balara led the way with a career-high four goals.

By: Abbey Curtis, Xavier Athletic Communications

ERIE, Pa. - The Xavier lacrosse team picked up their first win of the 2026 season with a 13-6 defeat of Mercyhurst on Friday afternoon.

The Musketeers went on an eight-goal scoring streak after falling behind 3-1 early in the first quarter and never relinquished their lead.

Senior Samantha Balara recorded her second career hat trick on a career-high four goals and two assists.

Xavier improves to 1-2 on the season while Mercyhurst falls to 0-2.

how it happened

Mercyhurst scored the first goal of the game three minutes into the start of the contest, but Brynley Hodge responded with the Musketeers' opening goal a minute later.

The Lakers would take a 3-2 lead into the first quarter break after scoring two more times in the first but the Musketeer offense ignited after Samantha Balara added her first of the afternoon with under three minutes to go.

XU went on an eight-goal scoring streak, blanking the Lakers 4-0 in the second quarter. Cameron Yard and Greer Simonton each contributed a goal before freshman Genevieve Hathaway scored back-to-back goals in the final seven minutes to give Xavier a 6-3 lead at halftime.

The Musketeers continued to pour on the goals as Samantha Balara scored her second goal just 12 seconds into the second half. Less than a minute later, Lily Villaflor forced a turnover on XU's defensive end and went coast-to-coast with the ball to set up Megan Droney with a goal.

Brynley Hodge scored her second of the afternoon to extend Xavier's lead to 9-3. Mercyhurst cut back in to the deficit with two straight goals, but graduate transfer Haley Reeck scored her first goal as a Musketeer and Samantha Balara found the back of the net for the third time to take a 11-5 lead into the final quarter for the Musketeers.

Both teams went scoreless for the first ten minutes of the fourth quarter until the Lakers scored on a free position shot. Samantha Balara added her fourth goal of the afternoon as insurance in the final three minutes and gave an assist to Olivia O'Hara for the freshman's first career goal in the final seconds of the contest to secure a 13-6 Xavier win.

notables

Samantha Balara scored four goals with two assists to become the fourth Musketeer in program history to record at least six points in a game.
Genevieve Hathaway and Brynley Hodge each contributed two goals. Both scored their first career goals against Eastern Michigan last weekend.
Jada Brandon recorded 10 saves for a .625 save percentage. The senior ranked sixth in the nation last week for her 12.50 saves per game.
Megan Droney contributed a goal and two assists to lead the Musketeers with eight points this season.
Haley Reeck added her first goal and first assist in a Musketeer uniform.
Colby Wasson led the defense with five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Grace Galanis also had two ground balls and a caused turnover.
Cameron Yard had a team-high five draw controls to go along with a goal and a caused turnover.
Xavier won the draw 15-6 against the Lakers and out shot them 40-23.