ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Mercyhurst University men's lacrosse team got back on track when it handed 15th-ranked Lindenwood University its first loss of the season, 10-7, on Saturday night in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. The Lakers, who had lost two straight and three of their last four, improved to 3-4 overall and evened their record at 1-1 in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC). The Lions dropped to 5-1 overall and 2-1 against ECAC opponents.

After the teams played to a 5-5 draw in the opening half, the Lakers used a big defensive effort in the second half to shut down the Lindenwood offense and to collect the victory. The Lions managed only two second half goals and could muster only eleven shot attempts over the final thirty minutes. Mercyhurst also forced Lindenwood into ten second-half turnovers.

Sophomore John Plaskey gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead with his seventh goal of the season less than two minutes into the game before Lindenwood scored the next two goals to take a 2-1 advantage. Senior Brett Williams tied the game at 2-2 with his first goal of the year with just 57 seconds left in the opening quarter. But, Josh Coons scored 13 seconds later for Lindenwood to give the Lions a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes.

Junior Cory Becker, senior Trevor Vargo, and Plaskey scored in the second quarter for the Lakers, offsetting two goals by Lindenwood's David Corazalla, to knot the score at 5-5 after the opening half.

Redshirt sophomore Jon Antonio gave the Lakers a 6-5 lead with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter - the only tally by either team in the third quarter.

Corazalla tied the game at 6-6 with his fourth goal of the game for Lindenwood just 1:18 into the final quarter. But, the Lakers rattled off the next four goals to take a commanding 10-6 advantage. Becker scored at 12:18, followed by junior Connor Enright at 7:39, Becker at 2:26, and sophomore James Crowe at 1:06, to put the contest out of reach.

The Lions would score one final time in the closing minutes, but the damage had been done.

Becker led the Lakers with three goals while Plaskey had two goals and one assist. Vargo, who had just one goal, did have a game-high four helpers. Three of his four assists came on three straight goals during the Lakers' four-goal barrage during the fourth quarter.

Corazalla had four of Lindenwood's seven goals on the night.

Graduate student goalkeeper, Michael Grace, improved to 3-4 on the season with seven saves. Ben Besancenez took the loss for Lindenwood after posting six stops.

Mercyhurst will return home on Saturday, April 4, when it entertains Walsh University at Tullio Field. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.