ERIE, Pa. - It wasn't easy, but the Mercyhurst University men's lacrosse team is back in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) playoffs.

Senior Trevor Vargo went out in style on Saturday afternoon, scoring a career-high five goals and adding an assist as the Lakers came-from-behind to defeat Wheeling Jesuit University by a 10-9 final on Senior Day at Tullio Field. Mercyhurst closed out the regular season with an 8-5 overall record and a 5-2 mark in the ECAC standings. The Cardinals ended their season with an 8-6 mark and a 3-4 record in conference play.

When the Cardinals' Matt Lee scored with 2:12 left in the first half, Wheeling Jesuit found itself leading 6-2. But, that's when Mercyhurst started its rally. Junior Cory Becker scored his first of three goals on the afternoon less than a minute later to cut the lead to 6-3. Then Vargo found the back of the net, his third goal of the contest, with 44 seconds left in the first half to pull Mercyhurst within two, 6-4, at halftime.

Junior Shane Endres scored his third goal of the season to start the second half, cutting the Wheeling Jesuit lead to 6-5 just 16 seconds into the third quarter. However, 90 seconds later, the Cardinals briefly stopped the Lakers' run when Tyler Buchan scored to regain the two-goal lead.

Senior Brett Williams notched his fourth goal of the year just over a minute later to again cut the Cardinal lead to one. Then, Vargo scored back-to-back goals at 11:14 and 1:34 to give the Lakers their first lead since scoring the first goal of the game.

Buchan tied the game at 8-8 with 13:21 left in regulation before Becker scored back-to-back goals to give the Lakers their biggest lead of the game. Becker's second of the game, and 17th of the season, came with 11:58 left. He completed the hat trick just 51 seconds later.

Wheeling Jesuit's Dereck Downs cut the Mercyhurst lead to 10-9 with 4:32 left in regulation. But, despite holding possession for much of the remainder of the game, the Cardinals could not get the equalizer.

Vargo's five goals gives him 25 for the season. He also added an assist, his 14th of the year, in the Laker victory. He leads the team with 39 points this season.

Graduate student goalkeeper Michael Grace posted 11 saves in the victory. He improved to 8-5 on the year. Grace's counterpart, Collin Smith, also had 11 saves.

Like the score, the game was quite even. Wheeling Jesuit held a 32-30 shot advantage and won 12 of the 23 faceoffs. The Cardinals also had a 25-18 advantage in ground balls. However, Mercyhurst only committed 12 turnovers compared to Wheeling Jesuit's 16.

Mercyhurst enters the tournament as the #3 seed and will play against Lake Erie College in one semifinal contest. The other will feature top-seeded Seton Hill against #4 Lindenwood. Times are to be determined.