Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst saw their home field for the first time in 2022 in a loss to the Kutztown University Golden Bears. The two teams played a tight first half before the visitors played spoilers as the Golden Bear outscored the Lakers 33-7 in the second half to take the 50-31 win.

How it Happened

The Lakers got off to a fast start with them scoring within the first few minutes of the game. One their opening drive of the 2022 home opener, Mercyhurst drove the ball down the field thanks to some solid passing from Michael Lowery. It was Lowery's legs that helped him score the first touchdown, though, as he scrambled from 16 yards out to make it a 7-0 score with 9:15 on the clock.

After the Golden Bears made a field goal near the end of the first period, Mercyhurst rattled off 10 unanswered points to take a double-digit lead. The first score was a field goal off the foot of Brian Alsobrooks from 18 yards out while the second was a touchdown. Lowery dropped back at the 30-yard line and dropped a dime to Joe Kerbacher in the back of the end zone for the score, making it a 17-3 with 9:12 remaining in the first half. 

Kutztown responded with a pair of touchdowns on the ground coming courtesy of Darryl Davis-McNeil to tie things up at 17-17. The Lakers didn't allow things to stay tied heading into the halftime break, though. They put together an impressive three-minute drive that finished with Dustin Shoaf getting TD number five of the season on a two-yard run up to the middle to give the Lakers a 24-17 lead with five seconds remaining in the half. 

Coming out of the locker rooms for the second half, Kutztown made the adjustments necessary to pull away. The Golden Bear's defense tightened up while the running game became a major weapon on the other side of the ball. Kutztown returned the opening kickoff of the second half inside the Laker's 10-yard line and it proved to be the opening act of a half in which the Golden Bears outscored their counterpart 33-7. Davis McNeil did a lot of the heavy lifting for Kutztown in the second half with him scoring twice to give him four scores on the day and finishing with 120 yards total. 

By the Numbers

The Laker's ground game proved to be a major positive for the team once again. This time around, it wasn't any one player doing all the work as five different players finished with carries good for 160 yards total. No one surpassed 50 yards on the day as it was a total team effort in helping Mercyhurst have such a productive day against one of the best defenses coming into the ga,e. The Lakers picked off a pass today with this one coming courtesy of Thomas Zacharyasz, giving them eight in the first three games of the season. In 2021, Mercyhurst nabbed eight picks in their final four games, giving the team at least one interception in all but one of their last seven and 16 overall in that span.

What's Next

The Lakers regroup in the week ahead and look to keep their perfect record on the road intact next Saturday, September 24th. The team sets their sights on IUP with the Crimson Hawks playing host for that game with kick-off set for 4:00 p.m.