ERIE, Pa. – The third-ranked Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team netted 14 goals over the opening 30 minutes to claim a commanding 14-4 lead at halftime.  However, the visitors from Westminster College put up a valiant effort in the second half, but came up short as the Lakers claimed the 18-12 victory on Saturday night at Saxon Stadium.

It was the visitors who grabbed the early lead with a tally from Merritt McMahon as he beat Cole Pellicano.  Then, Mercyhurst went to work as Bryce Johnson, Nicholas Mabe and Shawn Doran all buried unassisted goals for a 3-1 edge with 8:15 remaining in the first.  The visitors took a slashing penalty which would lead to goal number six thanks to Benjamin Smith-Wilcox.  Westminster pulled one back, before Caleb Kueber setup Jacob Emerson and Smith Wilcox, prior to tallying himself to make it 7-2.  Blake Gross capped the scoring for the first with 64-seconds to go.

The second frame belonged to the Green and Blue as they scored seven times in a row after Andoni Odencrantz cut it down to 7-3.  Devin Pipher recorded his first point of the day thanks to an assist on a Kueber marker.  That was followed less than a minute later as Todd Redman found Quinn Simonson who made it 9-4 with 9:19 remaining.  The Pipher to Kueber connection struck again, before Kueber finished off a nice pass from Johnson.  Mercyhurst would tally three more times in the final 3:43 thanks to Tommy Angelicola, Nathan Grenon and Kueber to lead 14-4 at the break. 

In the third, the Griffins kept the home side scoreless while scoring three times themselves.  Mercyhurst recorded eight shots in the quarter but were unable to beat Gavin Beilman.  The game went to the fourth with a score of 14-7. 

Westminster got within 14-9 thanks to goals from Dylan Brauer and Jacob Pickett.  A Kueber goal from Pipher made it 15-9, before McMahon scored once again at the 6:01 mark.  Johnson would find a cutting Smith-Wilcox down the ally and then netted an unassisted marker to increase the margin to 17-10 with 6:42 left.  After two more Griffins goals, Pipher capped the scoring after a cross-crease feed from Kueber.

Team Stat Pack
Shot Attempts - Hurst, 47 / WC, 39 
Shots on Goal - Hurst, 31 / WC, 21
Clears - Hurst, 12-13 / WC, 8-13
Face Offs - Hurst, 23-33 / WC, 10-33
Ground Balls - Hurst, 41 / WC, 17
Turnovers - Hurst, 15 / WC, 18
Extra Man Opp. - Hurst, 4-4 / WC, 1-1

Mercyhurst Individual Stat Leaders
Points – Kueber (9), Pipher (6), Johnson (4)
Goals – Kueber (5), Smith-Wilcox (3), Johnson and Pipher (2)
Assists – Kueber and Pipher (4)
Face Off – Doran (22-32), Columbus (1-1)
Saves - Pellicano (9)

Westminster Individual Stat Leaders
Goals – McMahon (3) 
Face Offs – Gaunt (4-10), Williams (4-8), Nadel (2-9)
Saves - Beilman (13)

On Deck 
The Lakers are back in action on Wednesday night when they welcome Lake Erie College to Saxon Stadium for Great Midwest Athletic Conference play at 7pm.