ERIE, Pa. – Alex Garcia Piles netted the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute to help the Mercyhurst men's soccer team defeat Lock Haven 4-3 in a critical Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference matchup Friday afternoon at Mercyhurst Soccer Field.
 
The Lakers (8-4) are now 4-2 in conference games, good enough for fifth place in the conference standings. The top six teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the PSAC Tournament.
 
Lock Haven (6-5-3) falls to 3-4-1 in the PSAC and is on the outside looking in at the postseason picture in eighth place.
 
Mercyhurst's Connor Wilkinson started the scoring in the 10^th minute. He corralled a pass from Chris Lund and netted it bottom left corner to give the Lakers the initial advantage.
 
Lock Haven bounced back with the next two goals in the 51st and 59th minutes, both scored by Andrew Moore. The Bald Eagles did not hold the lead for long, as Mercyhurst's Fjodor van Kippersluis took advantage of a Lock Haven penalty and scored on the penalty kick in the 64^th minute.
 
The final ten minutes saw three goals scored, the first by Christopher Makengo in the 83^rd minute to regain the lead for the Lakers. Beckham Sibiski tied the game two minutes later, before Garcia scored with an assist to van Kippersluis for the eventual game-winner in the 85^th minute.
 
There were seven total cards handed out during the game, including one red card to Mercyhurst's Joao Falco in the 64^th minute. Mercyhurst outshot Lock Haven 25-7 for the entire game and had a 12-5 edge in shots on goal.
 
The Lakers head downtown for a key PSAC matchup at Gannon this Sunday, Oct. 15, beginning at 5 p.m.