ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team used a five-goal fourth quarter, including the game-winner from
Caleb Kueber with 13-seconds left to comeback from a three-goal deficit to down the University of Indianapolis Grayhounds by a score of 10-9 on Sunday afternoon at Saxon Stadium.
It was the
Nathan Grenon show early for the Lakers as he cashed in man-up 4:37 in on a dish from
Nicholas Mabe. Then, added his second of the contest when
Benjamin Smith-Wilcox found him at the top of the crease. UIndy won the ensuing draw which led to the ball landing in the stick of Parker Johnson who beat
Hunter Emerson to make it 2-1. Mercyhurst went right back to work on the offense as
Shawn Doran and
Zach Lorenz each shot wide, before
Devin Pipher beat Austin Barrett pushing the lead to 3-1 under six minutes to go. Ben Foster scored for the Grayhounds, but
Nicholas Bartone scored his first of the day with 16-seconds left in the first to make it 4-2 after one.
Kansai Garey trimmed the gap to 4-3 when Matt Schoeneck set him up in the attacking zone. The Lakers got just four shots in the second quarter, but the offerings from
Jacob Emerson, Lorenz, Bartone and Kueber were all wide of the cage. However, just prior to the break the visitors drew even with Johnson netting his second of the afternoon putting the score at 4-4 at halftime.
The third period belonged to UIndy as they outscored the Lakers 4-1 in the frame. The first one came after a save by Barnett led to Brian Robb finding Andrew Simonich who fired a shot home. Garey missed a shot high and then on the ensuing restart Foster backed his way into the zone putting his attempt into the cage to extend the visiting advantage to 6-4 with 6:09 remaining. Kueber buried his first of the game at the 11:51 mark as
James Rettinger provided the assist to make it 6-5. Garey and Schoeneck each scored in the final minute of the third to give the Grayhounds an 8-5 lead.
Mercyhurst entered the final frame with their work cut out for them trailing 8-5. Things began well with Smith-Wilcox burying his first of the day on the feed from Bartone. Kyle Basch tallied unassisted at the 4:52 mark extending the margin back to 9-6. After a turnover by the visitors Smith-Wilcox put the ball in the stick of
Quinton Vargo who ripped a shot beyond the reach of Barnett. With the Lakers down 9-7 and coming out of a timeout Smith-Wilcox drilled his second of the period as Kueber put a backhand pass right to the top of the crease where he took care of it. Then, at the 13:22 mark, and coming off another well timed timeout
Bryce Johnson scored unassisted to bring the home side all the way back to 9-9. Doran won the next faceoff allowing Mercyhurst to retain possession and after Kueber rang the iron with a shot he made up for it with a beautiful back-handed finish into the top corner for the 10-9 winner.
The Lakers held a 32-30 lead in shots (20-16 on goal). Mercyhurst won 14 of 22 faceoffs. The Lakers were also perfect on the clears going 17-17, while UIndy went 18-22.
Smith-Wilcox, Kueber, and Grenon each had two goals, while Pipher, Bartone, Vargo and Johnson each tallied once. Doran led the team in groundballs nabbing seven and went 14-22 at the X.
James Wittmeyer,
Haden Bates and
Tommy Angelicola combined for 13 groundballs. Emerson made seven stops in cage.
Johnson, Garey, and Foster all buried two goals for UIndy. Robbie Berardi was 7-19 at the X. Barnett turned aside ten shots in goal.
On Deck - On the Road
Mercyhurst heads to Long Island next weekend when they square off with Molloy College on Saturday with the opening faceoff set for 12pm.
