Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – The thirteenth ranked Mercyhurst University men's soccer team shutout West Chester 3-0 in the PSAC Semifinal match on early Friday afternoon.

The Lakers improved to 15-4-0 overall in the season and will play in their second straight PSAC Championship game Saturday. West Chester dropped out of the conference tournament and finished with an overall record of 12-3-3.

Before the start of the match, junior Ryan Lund was announced the PSAC Champion Scholar Athlete for the 2013 Men's Soccer Championships. The Champion Scholar is awarded to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at each of the league's 23 championship finals sites. Lund has compiled 65 credits as a junior and maintains a 3.769 GPA while studying finance.

Freshman Danny Deakin lifted the Lakers to a 1-0 just nine minutes into the first half. The Lakers played with the wind throughout the first 45 minutes to create the advantage with the long ball action. Lund created the offensive rush after sailing a long ball to freshman Jack Watson. Watson then headed the ball to Deakin's feet and then lifted it up over West Chester goaltender Ryan Schultz.

The Laker headed into the locker room with a 12 to two throughout the first half.

Senior David Dougherty extended the lead to two after collecting his first goal of the season. The Lakers had 14 corner kick opportunities throughout the entire contest, but the Golden Rams came out on top defensively to prevent any opportunity for the Lakers. However Dougherty was the exception as he scored a header goal after freshman Joseph Korb sent in a corner kick at the 63:56 mark.

Watson tallied a goal at the 72:32 at the bottom right corner of the goal to conclude the 3-0 win. Deakin and sophomore Sten Marcson contributed in the offensive rush.

The Lakers outshot West Chester 22 to 8 throughout the entire 90:00 minutes of play to pick up their first postseason win. Mercyhurst also outshot West Chester 9-5 on net.

Graduate Student Mikko Sarkkinen picked up his eighth win of the season (8-3-0) after making five saves. Sarkkinen also collected his third shutout of the season. Schultz made six saves on nine shots to fall to 11-4-0 in net for the Golden Rams.

Mercyhurst will host Slippery Rock University in the PSAC Championship for the second consecutive year. Last season, the Lakers took home their first ever PSAC Championship after a 1-0 win over Slippery Rock. Earlier in the season, the Lakers traveled to The Rock and took home a 2-1 win. The championship match will take place Saturday, November 9 at the Mercyhurst Soccer Field. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.