Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – The No. 22 Mercyhurst University men's soccer team fought through snow and wind throughout 110 minutes of action but fell short in penalty kicks, 5-4, to fall to No. 1 Southern New Hampshire University on Sunday afternoon.

The Lakers finished their season 17-5-1 after tying 0-0 throughout the match. Southern New Hampshire advanced to the NCAA Final Four taking place in December.

The entire first half way back and forth play with the Lakers using the wind in their advantage. The Lakers attempted six shots with Southern New Hampshire having none. The first shot of the contest did not break through until the 20th minute of the match by freshman Joseph Korb.

During the second half, both teams picked up their offense as well as the Penmen making up for no shots attempted in the second. The Lakers were outshot four to three on net against the Penmen but overall the Lakers had 10 to eight shots attempted.

Around the 70th minute, Southern New Hampshire had a direct kick attempted just outside the 17 yard line. The Penmen's Mohamed Toufik took the shot but it was goaltender Mikko Sarkkinen who made the diving one-handed save to keep the score tied at zero.

Moment later, the Lakers had a shot taken by Fernando Martinez to the far side of goaltender Dom DiMaggio but DiMaggio mimicked Sarkkinen and made a diving save on the fluttering shot to remain tied.

The weather worsened as the end of regulation approached and both teams headed into overtime. Southern New Hampshire held the Lakers to two shots throughout the 20 minutes of overtime. The Penmen had seven shots on net but the help if the Lakers back line, including senior David Dougherty and sophomore Sten Marcson, making diving headers prevented from anymore seeing the hands of Sarkkinen.

With the second overtime half coming to a close, the Penmen battled their way to a 15 to 12 shot margin over Mercyhurst and outshot the Lakers 9 to four on net. The Lakers fell 5-4 in the shootout after the Penmen goaltender Dimaggio guessed right and made a save against senior Matt Campana to advance his team to the Championships. Mercyhurst's Danny Deakin, Sten Marcson, Korb, and Ryan Lund also took penalty kicks throughout the five rounds.

Sarkkinen captured his fifth shutout of the season and finished off the year at 10-4-1 in net for the Lakers. Sarkkinen made nine saves throughout the entire contest.

The Lakers finished their season 17-5-1 overall and 10-1-0 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Mercyhurst won their second consecutive PSAC Regular season title, were runners up in the PSAC Championship and advanced the NCAA Quarterfinal for the second consecutive season.