Gannon University

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GANNON BEGINS NEW
ERA ON NEW TURF

Photo and Article Courtesy of The Times Publishing Company And GoErie.Com

ERIE, PA - Gannon University finally has a field it can call its own.

The Gannon women's lacrosse team, the top-ranked NCAA Division II team, celebrated the opening of Gannon's Multipurpose Field on Wednesday with a 12-8 victory over Niagara.

The new field, which has an AstroPlay artificial surface, has been under construction since last summer. It spans most of the city block bordered by East Fourth and Fifth streets on the north and south, and Sassafras and Myrtle streets on the east and west.

Although the field was ready for lacrosse, work still is being done on the seating, lighting and netting that will be placed between the light poles. The netting is intended to keep baseballs and softballs from leaving the facility. The Gannon softball and baseball teams will open play there in mid to late April, and the Knights' football team will play its home games there in the fall.

Work also is being done on two buildings facing Sassafras Street, one for locker rooms and the other for concessions. The main entrance to the field will be between those two buildings. A two-lane rubberized track of just over one mile in length is being installed around the perimeter of the playing surface, but it will be used for recreational use, not for competition.

AstroPlay is a combination of nylon fiber strands that give the field its grass look, and recycled tires that are mixed in to give the field a cushion and a feeling of natural turf. The nylon fibers split up as the field is being played on, so the field gets better with use.

With snow falling in Erie as recently as Monday night, Gannon's new field was a definite plus for both teams. "If we were on grass, we would have played because we play in almost all kinds of weather," Gannon coach Jim Nestor said. "This was definitely a help, not only as a safety factor. The girls don't have to worry about ACL injuries that seem to happen on other types of synthetic surfaces."

Even though Wednesday's lacrosse match was the first intercollegiate event staged at Gannon's Multipurpose Field, Nestor already has used it to his advantage. "It has helped with our recruiting," Nestor said. "It is a big plus. It is just great having it available to us."

Nestor saw another positive factor. The Lady Knights previously had played their home games at Family First Sports Park, miles from Gannon's downtown campus.

"This was a very exciting day," he said. "It was nice to turn around and see the students supporting us. And people in the houses across the street were cheering, too."

The victory for the Knights (4-1) was an important one because it came against the Division I Purple Eagles (2-4). Gannon led 7-6 at halftime, but Niagara's Ashley Grosso's second goal of the game tied the score 8-8 with 21:56 remaining.

That's when Gannon took control. The Lady Knights scored the final four goals, two of them by Melissa Flynn, who assisted on another goal.

Flynn and Jessica Lee each had three goals and two assists for Gannon, Sara Brown scored three goals, and Lauren Schweiger had two goals, including the first-ever at the new facility.

Laurie Haefner scored three times for the Purple Eagles.

The Lady Knights will be back at the Multipurpose Field on Saturday when they play 10th-ranked C.W. Post at 12 noon.