ERIE, Pa. - Jack Watson scored two first half goals to lead #7 Mercyhurst past Bloomsburg for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship, 5-0.
With the win, the Lakers improve to 18-2-0 overall and captured their second PSAC Championship in three years since joining the conference back in 2008.
Watson got the Lakers on the board in the 20th minute when Ryan Lund put a ball over the Huskies defense. Watson, the Dublin, Ireland native, tracked the pass down and out ran the Bloomsburg defense to beat Huskies' goalkeeper Jared Ott right side.
Senior Dane Rimko would send a pass through the defense in the 37th minute where he found Watson streaking down the right side and put the shot left for a 2-0 halftime lead.
Defender Sten Marcson, an Onsala, Sweden native, recorded his second goal of this season in the 58th minute when his shot from the right side went upper right for a 3-0 lead.
Danny Deakin added to his national leading assist total with a cross pass from the right side that found Fernando Martinez on the left post where he was able to head the ball in for his 12th goal of the season.
Deakin would record another assist in the 88th minute on a pass to teammate Richard Vanhorne, his 10th goal of the season, to finish off the 5-0 victory. Deakin finished the contest at 15 assists, which is leading the nation.
After recording 39 shots in yesterday's contest, the Huskies held the Lakers to just ten, while Bloomsburg had nine. The Huskies held the corner kick advantage, 3-0.
Mercyhurst's defense put on another stellar performance, as the Lakers shutout Bloomsburg for the first time since September 13 against NYIT. "The defense played well as usual," Head Coach Dale White said. "They don't get enough credit with how many goals we score, but they are really the key to our success."
Sophomore goalkeeper Nicholas Smith received back-to-back wins since coming back from injury. Smith made four saves and received his second shutout, as his record improves to 6-1-0.
Watson was named tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP). He stated three goals over the two game span. He now sits at 22 goals on the year which also leads the nation.
The 5-0 PSAC Championship win was the largest margin of victory in the title game since 2003 when East Stroudsburg defeated California (Pa.), 5-0. The record for goals in the PSAC Championship game is six.
The Lakers will move on to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament which begins the weekend of the 13-16. Mercyhurst will find out its opponent Monday night during the selection show which can be viewed on NCAA.com.
Mercyhurst is seeking its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
