ERIE, Pa. – The third seed Mercyhurst University men's lacrosse team looked to secure their fourth trip to the NCAA Division II National Championship Game on Sunday afternoon in front of a raucous home crowd at Saxon Stadium.  Unfortunately, for the Green and Blue a 6-0 Le Moyne run over the third and fourth quarters were enough to help the top-seeded Dolphins hold on for an 11-9 win in the North Regional Final.
 
The Lakers came out of the blocks strong as Nicholas Mabe ripped a shot past Frank Delia at the one-minute mark.  The visitors tried to respond, but Ross Filtch and Matt Hutchings were unable to hit the target.  Mercyhurst made it 2-0 with 5:12 gone when Nathan Grenon tallied his first of four on the afternoon finishing off a feed by Caleb Kueber.  Cole Pellicano recorded save number one with 6:46 to play by LEMtting down Filtch.  Nicholas Bartone and Todd Redman each missed the mark, before Matt Hutchings beat the keeper trimming it to 2-1.  The Dolphins would draw even prior to the end of the quarter as Evan Kelly buried the rock.
 
Le Moyne snagged their first lead of the afternoon to begin the second when Devin Andrews beat Pellicano to make it 3-2.  Shawn Doran claimed the next faceoff and the Green and Blue immediately went on the offensive, but Benjamin Smith-Wilcox along with Todd Redman were denied by Delia.  However, Caleb Kueber would dent Delia for his long marker with 8:19 left.  Off the ensuing draw Grenon tried to reclaim the lead for the Lakers, unfortunately, he went wide.  That then led to Dolphins getting the advantage at 4-3 when Ben McCreary hit the net.  Mercyhurst played "make it take it" the rest of the half with Redman and Grenon stashing the ball behind Delia for a slim 5-4 edge. 
 
The Lakers took advantage of a slashing call at the end of the second period with a man-up marker just 23-seconds in to grab their second two-goal lead of the game at 6-4.  The remainder of the third quarter belonged to Le Moyne with Colin Sypek, Zach Pierce (2) and Hutchings netting the final four goals of the period to take an 8-6 lead into the final 15-minutes. 
 
McCreary extended the margin to 9-6 with 45-ticks gone after Le Monye gained control of the ball due to a faceoff violation.  Nicholas Mabe and Grenon tried to stop the visitors charge, but Delia was up to the task.  The Dolphins got the following four shots in a row and finally broke through again to complete their six-goal push and made it 10-6 with 10:33 to play.  Mercyhurst got back on the "make it take it" style recording three goals in a two-minute thanks to Bryce Johnson, Zach Lorenz and Grenon cutting the deficit to 10-9 still with eight minutes left.  Jake Nelson brought it 11-9 with a one-handed finish around Pellicano.  The Green and Blue tried to get back into the contest, but both Doran as well as Lorenz were turned away by Delia.  Back-to-back Mercyhurst penalties in the final two minutes allowed the Dolphins to see out the game.
 
Team Stat Pack
Shot Attempts - Hurst, 27 / LEM, 36 
Shots on Goal - Hurst, 17 / LEM, 17
Clears - Hurst, 12-17 / LEM, 15-16
Face Offs - Hurst, 19-23 / LEM, 4-23
Ground Balls - Hurst, 36 / LEM, 18
Turnovers - Hurst, 21 / LEM, 12
Extra Man Opp. - Hurst, 1-2 / LEM, 1-3

Mercyhurst Individual Stat Leaders
Points – Grenon (4), Kueber (3)
Goals – Grenon (4)
Assists – Kueber (2)
Face Off – Doran (19-23)
Saves – Pellicano (6)

Le Moyne Individual Stat Leaders
Goals – McCreary (3), Hutchings and Pierce (2)
Face Offs – Mattia (4-17), Kury (0-6)
Saves – Delia (8)

On Deck: 2022 Season
The Lakers will now regroup over the summer and Coach Ryan along with his staff we be back in 2022 ready to go!