Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Men's Soccer team will be back on the pitch tomorrow for a rematch with No. 19 Gannon, prior to facing Cal (Pa.) on Saturday in their regular season finale.
The Matchups
The Lakers and Golden Knights know each other very well as they have played 55 times dating back to 1976. Mercyhurst has a 33-19-3 record against their cross-town rivals. In their last match earlier this year the two teams tied at two after the Lakers had a 2-0 lead with just 20 minutes remaining in regulation.
Cal and Mercyhurst started playing each other in 1990 and since then the Lakers are 15-1-5 against the Vulcans. The two teams played earlier this year and tied 1-1 as Dylan Sumner scored the lone goal for Mercyhurst.
Still Work To Do
This past weekend the Lakers clinched their spot in the PSAC playoffs with a win over Slippery Rock. Mercyhurst came back to win 2-1 after trailing 1-0 just six minutes into the game. Sidney Warden scored in the 54th minute to tie the game one. In the 100th minute Tom Barry scored the game winning goal to give the Lakers their 10th win.
Mercyhurst still has a chance to take earn the top seed in the PSAC West, currently they sit in second with 17 points while Gannon has 20 points.
Back-to-Back
For the second straight week Warden was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week after he scored twice against Seton Hill on Wednesday and once against Slippery Rock on Saturday.
Warden also leads the PSAC in goals with 15 while he also averages over a goal per game. He is tied for sixth in the nation in goals, Warden also ranks fourth in the nation in points per game.
Explosive Offense
The Lakers are fourth in the country in scoring offense as they are averaging 3.27 goals per game. Mercyhurst is also scoring almost one more goal more then Lock Haven who is in second in the PSAC.
Mercyhurst has a scoring margin of 2.14 that also leads the conference, Gannon is second with a 1.25 scoring margin.
13 different Lakers have scored for the Lakers while six have four or more goals and seven have more than 10 points this season.
#1 Is Within Reach
The Lakers are going to be playing in the postseason next week, however the seedings are not finalized. With a win against Gannon, the Lakers would be tied for first with Gannon but would have the tie breaker due to head-to-head record. Seton Hill sits in third with 15 points remaining, all three teams have two games remaining.
Up Next
The playoffs start next Tuesday, with the semi-finals being held on Friday and the PSAC Championship on Sunday. The highest remaining West team will host the semi-final and finals.
