MANCHESTER, N.H – The Mercyhurst men's soccer team is set to compete against Southern New Hampshire University in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament on Sunday, November 18.  The match is set for Larkin Field on Southern New Hampshire's campus at 1:00 p.m.
 
The Lakers (16-5-1) beat Gannon University on Friday to extend their winning streak to eight.  With the win or go home mentality, Mercyhurst must win Sunday's match to move on to the NCAA Final Four in Evans, Georgia.  The last time the Lakers had a Final Four appearance was back on December 6, 2002 when the Lakers fell to SNHU, 2-1.  This is the last time Mercyhurst and Southern New Hampshire faced each other.
 
SNHU (19-3) will have home field advantage Sunday, having lost only one game this season on the home pitch.  Holding a seven game winning streak, the Penmen are averaging 2.5 goals per game, outscoring their competition by 54 goals in 22 matches.  As a team, they average a .120 shot percentage, taking 20.5 shots per game.
 
Senior Chris Tsonis leads the Penmen with 15 goals and four assists, playing in all 22 matches.  Sophomore Mohamed Toufik is second on the team with nine goals, and Jordan Branco follows closely behind him with six.  Toufik scored twice against UMass Lowell in the East Regional Championship, to advance to the quarterfinals.  Dom DiMaggio notched his fourth shutout of the season. 
 
Mercyhurst has allowed four goals in the postseason in advancing to the quarterfinals, outscoring their opponents seven to four.  Throughout the season, the Lakers have scored 42 goals, 1.91 per game, and have a .475 shot percentage. 

Senior Alex Manea leads the team with 15 goals. Manea has six helpers. Sophomore Fernando Martinez has seven goals and leads the team with nine assists and senior Austin Solomon has seven goals and four assists.  Martinez notched two assists to lead the Lakers to a 2-1 victory over Gannon on Friday, while Solomon scored the game-winning goal.
 
To watch live stats of the Quarterfinals, please click here.
 
To watch live video of the Quarterfinals, please click here.