Wingate, N.C. - The Lakers get the new season started the way they wanted to as they grabbed the win over Wingate. It was a battle of two top-10 teams with Mercyhurst getting the better of the matchup in the 16-13 victory.

How it Happened

First Quarter

Wingate fired the opening salvo of the game as they scored at the 10:54 mark of the opening canto to take the lead. The Lakers did not wait around to tie things up as Shawn Doran got goal number one of the season for Mercyhurst on the ensuing face-off, tying things at 1-1 10 seconds later.

Quinn Simonson kept the ball rolling for the Lakers as he got their second score of the first period just 40 seconds later to help give Mercyhurst their first lead, 2-1.

Wingate didn't stay behind for too long, though, as they knotted things up at 2-2 with 9:36 to go in the first period. Nicholas Mabe was not too happy with the score remaining tied so he scored midway through the frame to help Mercyhurst reclaim the lead, 3-2. The first continued to be a back-and-forth, high-scoring period with the scoreboard showing 6-5 in favor of the Lakers at the end.

Second Quarter

Mercyhurst scored their fourth consecutive goal of the game to help them take their first multiple-goal lead of the contest to open the second period. This one came courtesy of Ethan Landymore in a man-up opportunity to make it 7-5 14 seconds into the second stanza.

That was only the beginning of a strong second quarter as the Lakers outscored their counterpart 4-0 to take a 10-5 lead into the halftime break.

Third Quarter

After the Bulldogs scored the first goal of the second half, Ethan Landymore and Myles Hamm scored back-to-back goals to make it a 12-6 game with eight minutes showing on the clock. For Hamm, this was his third score of the game as he joined Landymore as Lakers with a hat trick in the contest.

Wingate managed to score two goals at the end of the third canto to help them move within two as the Lakers went into the final frame with a 14-12 lead.

Fourth Quarter

Mercyhurst managed to hold onto a multi-goal lead the rest of the way thanks to some timely offense over the final 15 minutes. Goals from Stephen Morley and Luke Ingianni proved to help make the difference as they both got their first scores of the season in the 16-13 win.

Highlights 

Myles Hamm led the way with five goals in the game, his most since his five against Walsh in early May of the 2022 season. It was the seventh time in his career he has had five or more goals in a game. Hamm was followed by Ethan Landymore who, after leading the nation in goals a season ago, collected four in the 2023 season opener. Shawn Doran picked up right where he left off with 15 ground balls and finished 18-25 in face-offs. Brett Olney did his part in the net with 15 saves, his most since 2/26/22 when he had 16 against Le Moyne.

Next Game

Mercyhurst takes a week off before getting back out on the field. They are set to go back out on the road for their next contest as they play Wilmington on Saturday, February 25th.