Gwynedd Valley, Pa. - (9/18/2024) - Gwynedd Mercy University (3-2-2) looked to make it two in a row as the team welcomed Penn State Abington (3-3) to the Athletic Complex. Junior forward Natalie Morris (Boyertown, Pa.) got the party started early for the Griffins with a beautiful find from senior forward captain Bethany Beinlich (Forksville, Pa.) to Morris to give the red and gold an early 1-0 lead (20:05). The Nittany Lions roared back as they scored at 61:12 (1-1) and just a little over four minutes later (65:58) Penn State Abington was awarded a penalty kick and were successful giving them a 2-1 victory.  

Tonight's contest was extra special as Gwynedd Mercy partnered with Morgan's Message and Abbey's Bakery for a Mental Health Awareness Night. The evening spearheaded by Morris, "Mental Health is important to everyone. I want everyone to know there is help out there and no one should have to battle mental health on their own." Morgan's message aims to amplify stories, resources, and expertise to strengthen student-athlete mental health to build a community by and for athletes to experience peer-to-peer conversations and provide a platform for advocacy. Founded in 2020, Abbey's Bakery was established to honor the life and legacy of Abbey Wolf. 

Griffin Highlights:  

• Junior goalkeeper Natalie Gablein (Philadelphia, Pa.) was sensational in net for the Griffins tonight. Gablein finished with seven saves, but most of her work came during the corner kick opportunities for the Nittany Lions. Gablein shut down all opportunities for Penn State Abington during those attempts as she had great positioning to catch the ball on the corner kick not allowing any shots or havoc to be caused in front of the junior.  
• The contest was tightly contested throughout as both teams combined for only 14 shots on net with the Nittany Lions recording nine and Gwynedd Mercy recording five.  

Gwynedd Mercy University travels to Wilson College on Saturday, September 21 for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff for their next contest.