ERIE, Pa.- The #1 Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team will host #4 Dowling in an NCAA Semifinal on Saturday, May 19, at Tullio Field. Face-off is slated for 2 p.m.


 
All game day information is available at http://www.hurstathletics.com/sports/2012/5/10/MLAX_0510122852.aspx?id=271.
 
Tickets will be available at Tullio Field beginning at noon. Adult tickets are $10 and student tickets are $5. No complimentary passes will be available.
 
A live video broadcast will be available at http://www.b2livetv.com/static/mh.html. Live stats will be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/hurst/mlax/scoreboard.aspx.
 
The Lakers enter the tournament as the defending NCAA Champions. They are 13-0 in 2012 and have won their last 20 matches dating back to last year. Mercyhurst has also won its last 12 home outings. It became the first team in school history to complete an undefeated regular season in any sport. Coach Chris Ryan's squad is also the first to have an unbeaten overall regular season as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC). This season also marks the Lakers' first outright ECC championship. It is the program's sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2003.
 
Dowling has an 11-2 record this season. The Lions qualified for their third NCAA Tournament despite losing, 15-7, to #3 Limestone in their last regular season contest.
 
As a team, the Lakers are second in scoring defense (5.15) and third in man-up offense (41.2 percent). Dowling ranks fourth in face-off win percentage (64.1) and fifth in scoring offense (12.31).
 
Brian Scheetz leads the Lakers with 32 assists and 45 points this season. His 2.46 assists per match paces the country. He became the school's all-time points leader on May 5, as he passed Troy Ledbetter with a first-quarter assist. Scheetz holds the record with 159 career points.
 
Brady Heseltine is the leading goal scorer with 25, while Kyle Kallay has 24. Zac Reid has added 12 goals and 13 assists this year. Goalie Michael Grace is allowing 4.88 goals per match and saving 61.1 percent of the shots he has faced. His GAA is second-best in Division 2.
 
Dowling is led by Vito DeMola, who has 29 goals. Billy Richardson paces the team with 18 assists and Michael Brennan has totaled 25 goals. Ryan Dougherty has started all 12 games in net, giving up 6.52 goals and recording a 62.6 save percentage. Louis Riley leads the nation in groundballs per game with 9.38. His 66.5 percent success on face-offs is third in Division 2.
 
Mercyhurst holds an 8-6 edge in the all-time series, including wins in each of the last four seasons. The Lakers won, 7-6, at Dowling on March 24. The Lions led, 6-5, in the fourth quarter before Brian Scheetz tied the game and then assisted on Kyle Kallay's game-winner with 3:30 remaining.