Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – The fourth-ranked Mercyhurst University men's soccer team fell to Notre Dame College during their season Opener on Friday afternoon by a score of 1-0. Freshman Danny Deakin and Jack Watson both tallied four shots in the loss.

The Lakers fall to 0-0-1 at the start of the season. Graduate student Mikko Sarkkinen (0-0-1) had his sixth ever appearance in net as a Laker, having only one shot attempted on goal by the Falcons.

Mercyhurst forced the majority of play towards the Falcons' defense by outshooting Notre Dame College by a game total of 18 to five. The Lakers also pressured Falcons' goaltender Jan Skorupinski (1-0-0) to make two saves throughout the 90:00 minutes.

With five minutes left in the first half, Notre Dame's Tom Owens got the moment to strike the net as his team was awarded a direct kick at the top right of the penalty box. After given the go ahead, Owens took a hard shot to beat Sarrkinen to the left bottom corner of the net.

In spite of the Lakers holding the Falcon to only three shots the second half, the Laker offense could not break through Notre Dame's defense and Skorupinski.

The Lakers will continue action at the Mercyhurst Soccer Field on Sunday, September 8, against University of Charleston at 3 p.m. At their last meeting, the Lakers scored with less than three minutes to spare to knock out University of Charleston in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Regional's.