Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst men's water polo played in a pair of game Saturday to open up their time in the WWPA Erie Classic, falling in both. The team started off their day in a 11-9 final with crosstown rivals, Gannon, before a 29-13 defeat at the hands of Salem.

How it Happened

Mercyhurst's bout with the Golden Knights began with Gannon jumping out in front, scoring five times in the opening period of play with bookend goals from the Lakers as Teagan Thomas got things started while Nate Cheney scored the second goal of the period for Mercyhurst to make it a 5-2 score at the end of the first.

The defense picked up on both sides in the second with there being only two goals in the frame with both belonging to Gannon as they held a 7-2 lead at the break. Mercyhurst managed to be the better team in the third, though, as they scored four times with Owen Hardner claiming two of those to make it a 9-6 score going into the final frame.

Once again, Mercyhurst managed to outscore their counterpart as Hardner completed the hat trick while Cheney picked up his second goal of the game. Their efforts were not enough, though, as Mercyhurst took the two-goal loss.

Game number two was one that saw Salem dominate from the outset. Mercyhurst's offense did well for themselves as they scored nine times in the first half, but the Tigers were able double up their opponents at halftime thanks to nine goals in both the first and second periods. 

Salem showed no signs of slowing down in the second half either with them tacking on 11 goals in the final 16 minutes of play. The defense also picked up for the Tigers; after giving up a game-high six goals in the second period, they managed to hold Mercyhurst to one in the third and three in the fourth in the 16-goal decision.

Highlights

Asher Jones led the way in the two games with seven total points, scoring four goals to go along with three assists. Owen Hardner and Keller Sens came in close behind with the laker duo each having five in the game with Hardner's all coming off of goals while Sens finished with three goals and a pair of assists.

Next Game

Mercyhurst does not have to wait around all too long to get back in the water as the team is set to compete tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. against McKendree to round out their run in the WWPA Erie Classic.