Slippery Rock, Pa. - Mercyhurst Football was unable to get the win on the road in week six of 2022 as they fell to the Rock by a final of 17-31. The Lakers fell behind in the early going and were never able to catch up as they fall to 2-4 on the year.

How it Happened
The Rock set the tone on the very first play of the game as Slippery Rock's return man, Jawon Hall, took the opening kick-off of the game back 97 yards to make it a 7-0 game just 13 seconds in. Slippery Rock looked like they were going to score again on their first real possession of the game, but the Laker defense came up big as Marquis Mauney collected interception number three on the year to let it be known Mercyhurst would not go away quietly.

After the Lakers failed to score after the interception, Slippery Rock drove the ball down the field to move out in front by double-digits in the early going of the second period. It was a long drive for the Rock that helped them add to their lead as they recorded 20 plays while eating up over nine minutes. The 20th play of the drive was a field goal by DJ Opstanik from 26 yards out at the 12:29 mark of the second period. They then made it a score of 17-0 four minutes later with a passing touchdown as the Rock began to take control.

Mercyhurst managed to find the scoreboard before the end of the opening half with a field goal to give them some momentum heading to the locker room. While the Lakers weren't quite able to match Slippery Rock's 20-play drive, Mercyhurst went for a baker's dozen on their way to their first score. Joe Carter made a major impact during the beginning of the drive as he completed each of his four passes to move the ball down the field and get Brian Alsobrooks in range and nail the 30-yard field goal try with 3:17 to go in the opening half.

The Lakers inched closer to begin the second half as their opening drive of the third period resulted in a touchdown to make it a 17-10 game. Mercyhurst relied heavily on the pass game to help them score their first TD of the game as Carter completed seven passes on the drive. The final was a fade into the back of the end zone to Cameron Barmore where the sophomore wide receiver found himself wide open, helping the Lakers pull within seven.

The two teams traded scores from there on out with both squads scoring 14 points in the second half. The second score of the third quarter for the Lakers came courtesy of Dustin Shoaf who grabbed his seventh rushing TD of the season. That alone wasn't enough to help Mercyhurst to pull off the comeback, though, as a pair of passing scores for Slippery Rock helped seal the win for the Rock.

By the Numbers
Joe Carter came out firing in his first start of the season, going for 242 yards on 23 completions to go along with one touchdown. It was just the second time the Lakers have surpassed 200 yards through the air in a game in 2022. Dustin Shoaf scored his seventh TD of the season to give him a rushing score in all but one game this year. His seven scores help keep Shoaf near the top of the conference leaderboards for rushing touchdowns as he finds himself tied for second alongside Melvin Banks of Gannon. Jacob Holl continues to be one of the better linebackers in the PSAC as he finished with 11 total tackles for double-digit tackles for a third straight week and for the fourth time overall in 2022. His 11 tackles against Slippery Rock help him hold sole possession of third place in the conference with 65. Mercyhurst has proven to be a very fundamentally sound team and that was the case once again in this one as they committed just two penalties for a total of 20 yards. In a total of six games, the Lakers have accumulated a total of 203 penalty yards for an average of 33.8 yards per game which is the eighth fewest in NCAA D II.

What's Next
The Lakers return home for their next game as they are set to host Clarion. Mercyhurst plays the Golden Eagles next Saturday, October 15th, with kick-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m.