Eisenhower’s Elley Eastman, left, battles for the ball in Thursday’s Region 3 matchup against Mercyhurst Prep. Times Observer Photo by Steve Younger

RUSSELL — In a battle for first place in Region 3, the Mercyhurst Prep Lakers came out on top of the Eisenhower Knights 4-0 on Thursday.

It was a back-and-forth battle in the first half with both teams displaying an aggressive attacking offense. The ball moved toward the Lakers end several times with the Knights missing several shots just outside the net.

It appeared that the half was going to end in a scoreless tie but with two minutes left, Marissa Schnars scored the first of her two goals on a breakaway down the middle of the field to put the Lakers up 1-0 at the half.

There was another breakaway score by the Lakers’ Ellie Signats and a penalty-shot score by Kathleen Reddinger to make the score 4-0.

“They scored on three breakaways and a penalty shot. I’m proud that our girls never gave up,” Eisenhower head coach Alex Johnson said.

The Knights shut down the Lakers for the last 20 minutes of the game.

“It’s a tough loss to stomach. I thought our girls did a great job shutting down their stud midfielders in the first half and generating opportunities for us,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t one of our best games. We will learn from this and prepare for the possibility of seeing them again in the playoffs.”

The Knights are next in action on the road Saturday against Conneaut, Ohio. Game time is 11 a.m.