ERIE, Pa. – Coming off a massive win in over third-ranked Seton Hill University in their Great Midwest Athletic Conference opener the Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team has a quick turnaround as they head down to Wheeling, West Virginia to continue G-MAC play with a contest against the Wheeling University Cardinals on Monday afternoon.     

Game Information
Opponent – Wheeling University Cardinals
Date - Monday, March 22
Time - 3:00 pm
Location – Wheeling, W. Va. (Bishop Schmitt Field)
Series History - Hurst leads, 22-0 (Lakers won last meeting on 4/20/19 at Wheeling by a score of 21-4)
Fan Notice – No visiting fans will be allowed at Bishop Schmitt Field 
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Scouting the Lakers (3-0, 0-0 G-MAC)
Preseason Poll
The Lakers were pegged as the favorite in the G-MAC earning 35 points to claim the top spot.  Right behind them is annual challenger Seton Hill University who grabbed 32 points.  The rest of the poll goes Lake Erie (25), Walsh (22), Davis and Elkins (16), Wheeling (9) and Alderson Broaddus (8).

Schedule Outlook
After Monday's road contest the Lakers finally will get to have their home opener next Saturday, March 27^th at 7pm when they host Westminster College out of Utah.  That will begin a string of six consecutive games at home with other matchups coming against Lake Erie (3/31), Chestnut Hill (4/2), Walsh (4/10), Mercy (4/13) and Alderson Broaddus (4/17).  Four of those six contests will occur under the lights.

Welcome Back Laker Nation
Starting with the game on Saturday against Westminster the Lakers will welcome the home fans back to Saxon Stadium.  You can see the fan and ticket policy by clicking here.      

Preseason All-Americans
The Lakers had three players selected as USILA Preseason All-Americans in Nathan Grenon, Caleb Kueber and Devin Pipher.  Grenon and Kueber earned second team honors, while Pipher was selected as an honorable mention.  Head Coach Chris Ryan said of the group as a whole "if we are to achieve our goals in 2021 all three of these players will need to continue to develop both on and off the field as leaders.  I have full confidence in them that they are capable of leading us to where we want to go."

Caleb is Dominanting
Kueber is off to a torrid pace posting a team-high 22 points on 14 goals as well as eight assists.  He has had multiple goals in every contest so far notching six in the opener against Molloy, followed by four in versus Roberts Wesleyan and Seton Hill.  He has picked up seven of his eight helpers over just the last two games. 

Variety of Goal Scorers
Ten Lakers hit the back of the cage in the huge 17-12 win on Saturday at Seton Hill.  Bryce Johnson, Peyton Manko, Grenon and Kueber all had multiple markers in the that game.  Mercyhurst also got solo tallies from Tommy Angelicola, Shawn Doran, Jacob Emerson and Braden McCard. 

Sharin' With Devin 
Pipher is leading the team in assists handing out 13 so far on the season.  He had eight in the win at Molloy in the season-opener, before only posting one at Roberts Wesleyan.  In the last game on Saturday at Seton Hill in the team's G-MAC lid-lifter Pipher added four more to his ledger. 

Dominance at the X
The trio of Bo Columbus, Ryan Jobson and Doran have been strong at the X going 56-85 for a .659 winning percentage.  Doran leads the side with a mark of 47-69 (.681), followed by Columbus at 7-13.  Jobson has been perfect on his two tries so far this year.   

Man-Up Success
The Green and Blue picked up three man-up tallies on Saturday in Greensburg with Grenon converting twice and Johnson firing one to the back of the cage as they went 3-12 against the Griffins.  On the season Mercyhurst is now 7-21 for a 33.3% conversion rate, while limiting the opposition to a 4-14 mark. 

Strong in the Crease
Graduate transfer Cole Pellicano has posted a 3-0 record so far in his brief time with the Lakers.  He is posting a .604 save percentage to go along with a 6.91 goals against average aided by his 29 saves on 84 shots faced in 165:00 minutes played.  In the win against RWC on March 13^th, Brendan Eyestone, Brett Olney and Jason Pawlak each saw time as well in the fourth quarter combining for four saves. 

G-MAC Award WInner
For the second week in a row, the Green and Blue took home a G-MAC Player of the Week award as Kueber's nine-point afternoon against Roberts Wesleyan was enough to earn Offensive Player of the Week.  He joins Pellicano as the second Laker to grab the honor.    

Stat Pack
The Lakers outshot Seton Hill 46-37 and 32-19 on goal.  Mercyhurst had another strong afternoon in the clear game posting a near-perfect mark of 16-17, while limiting Seton Hill to just 17-22.  They also held the edge in ground balls (27-25), faceoffs (20-13), and man-up goals (3-2 ). 

NCAA Leaders (as of games through 3/19/21)
Mercyhurst ranks tops in the nation in scoring defense (4.50) and shot percentage (.435).  They are second in assists per game (14.0), points per game (32.5), scoring offense (18.5), and scoring margin (14.0).  Their 69.2% winning rate at the X is good for fourth, while they are ninth in clearing percentage going at an 88.4% clip.  Individually, Kueber tops the charts in goals per game (5.0), Pellicano leads the way in goals-against average (4.0) and Pipher is the top assist man in the country handing out 4.5 helpers per game.  Defensively, Doran sits in fourth at the X with his .730 winning percentage and ninth in groundballs scooping up 9.0 per contest.  Angelicola is seventh in caused turnovers (2.5).   

In The Nest (3-0, 1-0 G-MAC)
Wheeling comes into the game with a mark of 1-4 overall and will be playing their G-MAC opener.  They beat Felician University by a score of 10-8 for their lone win while dropping games to Chowan, Davis & Elkins, Molloy and Roberts Wesleyan.  So far this season the Cardinals have three players with double-digit points led by Jacob Knippel with 14 points thanks to 14 goals.  Brody Fawver has racked up 11 points (6g, 5a) and Mike Andersson has notched 10 points (5g, 5a).  Joey Bertrand paces the flock in pursuit of groundballs picking up 32 while going 56-119 at the X for a .471 winning percentage.  Matthew Anderson, Dallin Isaacson and Jake Wodarek each have double-digit groundballs.  Isaacson has made all five starts in cage for the Cardinals posting a. 369 save percentage with a 16.47 goals-against average in 255:00 minutes.  He has recorded 41 saves on 187 shots faced.  Nick Anagnostis leads the nest for the second season.        

On Deck
The Lakers finally get to have their home opener on Saturday when they host Westminster College from Utah at 7pm on the Saxon Stadium turf.