Erie, PA—Mercyhurst Men's Water Polo played a shortened season in 2020-21, going 3-5 on the season.
The Matchups
Mercyhurst plays four games this weekend as they travel to Cambridge, MA to take on Harvard and MIT on Saturday before traveling to Providence, RI to take on Brown and Fordham on Sunday.
No. 11 Harvard leads the all-time series 4-2 with the two Laker wins coming in 2010 by a score of 11-3 and in 2012 by a score of 11-10. The Crimson and Lakers last played in 2019 with Mercyhurst falling 18-5.
MIT has faced the Lakers eight times with the last time being 2016. The Engineers have the lead in the all-time series 5-3. The last two Laker wins came in 2012 when they won 6-5 and 12-9.
The Lakers open Sunday against No. 18 Brown. This will be just the fourth time the teams have played with the Bears taking the first three games. They last played each other in 2016.
Mercyhurst closes out the weekend against No. 20 Fordham. The Lakers are 2-10 all-time against the Rams. Their two wins came in 2011 and 2012 with wins of 8-5 and 11-8.
Experience Coming Back
The Lakers lost just one senior after last season while they have brought in five new faces in. Mathieu Davis and Derek Kagen headline the returners as they were both All-Conference players in the shortened season. Davis earned first team honors, scoring 19 goals including an incredible nine goal game against Washington & Jefferson in the playoffs. Kagen was named to the second team after scoring 16 goal in his sophomore season.
Who's in the Cage
Nash Greeven is back for his senior season after starting every game for the Lakers last season, he also made 21 appearances as a sophomore and 25 in his rookie campaign. Tony Golin and Parker Wood are two freshman goalkeepers that will compete for time in the cage.
Scouting the Other Guys
No. 11 Harvard will face Mercyhurst as they play for the first time in 644 days. They return three of their top five goal scorers from 2019 as they went 29-1.
MIT opens their season against Fordham on Saturday morning prior to taking on the Lakers Saturday evening. The Engineers went 12-15 in 2019, they did not play in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Brown who is ranked 18 in the nation will face the Lakers on Sunday in their fourth game of the weekend. The Bears are slated to play Santa Clara, Austin, and Wagner on Saturday prior to facing Mercyhurst Sunday morning.
No. 20 Fordham will open their season on Saturday before closing out their weekend against Mercyhurst on Sunday. Fordham played one game in 2020-21 beating Iona 17-11. In 2019, the Rams went 24-8, falling in the third-place game of the MAWPC Championships.
How Can I Follow the Action?!
All the games this weekend will be broadcasted on ESPN+ while you can follow live stats by clicking here.
Up Next
The Lakers come home to face Mount St. Mary's (MD) in a regular season game and an exhibition on Sept. 11.
