ERIE, Pa. – The third-ranked Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team netted a season-high 24 goals thanks to a dozen different goal scorers as the Lakers went wire-to-wire in a 24-5 win over Lake Erie College in Great Midwest Athletic Conference play on Wednesday night at Saxon Stadium.
It was a slow start to the opening quarter before
Nathan Grenon stepped into a shot and beat Lincoln Potter for the 1-0 edge 3:35 in. Three minutes later the Lakers made it 3-0 thanks to an unassisted marker from
Devin Pipher and
Caleb Kueber finishing off a feed from
Bryce Johnson. At the 9:45 mark the home team began a streak of "make it take it" lacrosse as
Todd Redman pushed it to 4-0, prior to
Shawn Doran winning a draw and scoring then Kueber setup
Jacob Emerson for the 6-0 lead. After the Storm got their first of the game, Grenon and
Ben Smith-Wilcox each added a goal for an 8-1 advantage after one.
Grenon and Blain Wallace exchanged tallies to begin the second. Grenon continued his solid night as he handed out two more assists on goals by Smith-Wilcox and Pipher giving the hosts an 11-2 edge at the 6:18 mark. Lake Erie stopped the momentum for only a brief moment, but the Lakers just continued to build up separation with two markers from Smith-Wilcox coupled with solo scores by
Nicholas Mabe and Kueber to hold a 15-3 lead at halftime.
After a scoreless three minutes to start the third Mercyhurst began the offensive onslaught once again with Kueber finding Mabe for his second, before Kueber buried the rock on a man-up opportunity. 26-seconds after the Kueber tally Emerson cashed in unassisted setup by another Doran faceoff win for the 18-3 edge with five minutes gone. Two minutes later Thomas Polden was called for a slash which ultimately ended up in a Johnson goal. Each side would add one more for a 20-4 advantage through three.
The Lakers notched the first two goals of the final period thanks to
Gavin Farrell on a pass from
Braden McCard and
Quinn Simonson found Kueber for a quick-stick finish stretching the margin to 22-4 with 10:42 remaining. Tommy Bichsel would slip a shot past
Cole Pellicano to make it 22-5 which brought
Jason Pawlak into the contest between the sticks for the Lakers.
Zach Lorenz tallied his third of the campaign and
Casey Scott buried the first of his college career for the 24-5 final.
Team Stat Pack
Shot Attempts - Hurst, 62 / LEC, 24
Shots on Goal - Hurst, 37 / LEC, 14
Clears - Hurst, 23-26 / LEC, 15-19
Face Offs - Hurst, 19-32 / LEC, 13-32
Ground Balls - Hurst, 44 / LEC, 22
Turnovers - Hurst, 12 / LEC, 18
Extra Man Opp. - Hurst, 4-7 / LEC, 1-2
Mercyhurst Individual Stat Leaders
Points – Kueber (9), Johnson (7), Grenon and Pipher (5)
Goals – Kueber (5), Grenon and Johnson (3)
Assists – Kueber and Johnson (4)
Face Off – Doran (17-26), Columbus (2-4)
Saves - Pellicano (8), Pawlak (1)
Lake Erie Individual Stat Leaders
Goals – Wallace (3)
Face Offs – Flury (13-32)
Saves - Potter (13)
