Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Men's Water Polo begins the new season this weekend with four games on the docket. The Lakers begin with Mount St. Mary's and the University of the Pacific on Saturday, September 2nd, with MIT and Wheaton to follow the next day.
A New Leader
Mercyhurst welcomes new Head Coach Blair MacDougall to the fold for the 2023 season. After spending the fall of 2022 as the team's graduate assistant before assuming the role of interim head coach in the spring, MacDougall now takes the lead for the first time in Erie. The new Laker's leader looks to set the tone in the early going of his tenure and establish Mercyhurst in the water once again.
Familiar Faces
The Lakers bring back plenty of their talent from a season ago as they bring back their two All-American Honorable Mentions from a season ago in Danilo Vujovic and Tony Golin. Golin led the way in the goal for Mercyhurst with him saving over 200 shots, looking to be a force in the net once again this time around. Vujovic lead the team in both goals (47) and points (53) as he proved to be an offensive force. Owen Hardner and Teagan Thomas rounded out the top goal-scorers for Mercyhurst from last season and return to Erie once more, giving the team plenty of fire power.
Preseason Seeding
The Western Water Polo Association released their preseason poll Tuesday afternoon with the Lakers finding themselves in seventh in the conference. After a 3-22 effort a season ago, the team hopes begin to climb up the rankings and challenge for the top spot in the WWPA against the likes Bill, Salem, and Concordia who rounded out the top three in the poll.
New Names
Despite the majority of last year's roster returning for another year, the Lakers added a plethora a young talent to their line for the 2023 campaign. Mercyhurst sees eight new faces on the team with each looking to make a big splash in year one in Erie.
Next Game
After their four games this weekend, the Lakers return to the water on Saturday, September 9th as they are scheduled to take on Washington & Jefferson at 12:00 p.m. followed by Johns Hopkins at 4:00 p.m. in Morgantown, WV.
