Erie, Pa. – Despite watching 38 of their 65 shots sail wide, the Lakers made the most of the ones that landed on net as the sixth-ranked Mercyhurst College men’s lacrosse team defeated Wheeling Jesuit, 12-6, Saturday afternoon at Tullio Field. With the victory, the Lakers snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 10-3 on the season. The Cardinals, on the other hand, fall to 7-4 overall and 0-11 against Mercyhurst lifetime.
The Lakers’ 65 shots is the second most in program history, surpassing their mark of 60 set against St. Andrews in 2005 and falling 10 shy of their program-record of 75 unleashed against Mars Hill in 2004. Seven of the 15 players who registered a shot attempt struck paydirt. Senior
Mike Thon led all scorers with three goals while junior
Tyler Burton connected twice and dished out two assists. Classmates
Trevor Rice and
Michael Sciulli added two goals apiece. Seniors
Aaron Manzer and
Todd Richardson and sophomore
Cameron McLean rounded out the scoring with a goal each.
More than half the team’s shots came in the first half, with the Lakers holding a 36-10 advantage after two quarters of play. However, Mercyhurst only led by a 4-2 margin. The Lakers bounced back from Wheeling’s game-opening score with three straight that bridged the first and second quarters. Following a second Cardinal goal, Rice converted the team’s first man-up goal of afternoon to push the lead to two heading into halftime.
Mercyhurst played a disciplined game as the team committed no penalties compared to Wheeling’s six mishaps. The Lakers finished with a 2-for-6 mark in extra-man situations.
The Lakers put away the game in the third quarter, scoring five goals on 22 shots while the defense held Wheeling in check. Burton orchestrated a 5-0 run with three of his four points coming in the frame. After Thon got the ball rolling with a goal less than a minute in, Burton dished out his first helper on Sciulli’s second of the game to increase the lead to four. McLean followed suit just a few minutes later before the London, Ontario product blasted both of his scores to close out the quarter.
Wheeling held the upper hand in the fourth quarter with a 9-7 edge in shots and a 4-3 scoring advantage. Four different Cardinals added goals while Richardson, Rice and Manzer closed out the offense for Mercyhurst.
Senior
Jason LaShomb picked up his 10th win of the season with 13 saves over a span of 53 minutes and 39 seconds. Sophomore
Zach Nash finished remaining 6:21.
Along with holding a 65-20 advantage in shots, Mercyhurst also controlled the ground ball (32-9) and face-off (18-22) statistics.
Mercyhurst will close out its regular season schedule this weekend when defending national champion and East Coast Conference foe New York Tech comes to town for a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday, May 2.