Lexington, Va. - Mercyhurst went on the road to begin the month of February, playing the first two games of their three-game weekend set. Mercyhurst had a tough fight on their hands in the form of VMI to start their day, falling 13-12, before a 16-4 final against Villanova in a rematch of last weekend.

How it Happened

Game one was bright and early for the Lakers against the host school, VMI, with the Cadets getting the better of the matchup. The Lakers fought hard throughout, but five goals given up to VMI in the second ended up being a major blow the team could never quite come back from in the 13-12 final. 

Mercyhurst came out of the gates as the hotter team as they jumped out in front by one at the end of the opening frame, 3-2. Senior Allie Dombkowski was a large reason for that as she scored each of the first two goals of the game for the Lakers to tie the game at 2-2. She was followed by Sakura Gavin who dented the twice in the final few seconds of the canto to help Mercyhurst to the lead going into the second. 

VMI ended up coming out of the gates hot in the second, scoring five times in the quarter. They started off with the first two to help them reclaim the lead, 4-3. The Lakers were able to responded with a pair of scores as both Bri Allstun and Grace Brzyski found the back of the net within on minute of one another to give the advantage back o the Lakers, 5-4. The Cadets went on a strong run in the final few minutes of the first half, though, to help them jump out in front to take a 7-5 lead going into the break.

The third period was a tight one with both teams scoring three times apiece. Allstun and Dombkowski both scored for the second time in the contests while Alexa Corrao got on the board for the first time in the game to help keep to a two-goal deficit, 10-8, going into the final period of play.

The fourth was an action-packed period for both teams with the Lakers able to outpace their counterpart. Brzyski and Dombkowski both got involved once again to tie things up in the early going going of the period, 10-10. After a goal from the Cadets, Corrao managed to score once again followed by freshman Freya Green who made it a 12-11 game in favor of the Lakers with just over two minutes to go in the game. Mercyhurst's defense tried to hold strong over the next few mutes, but a pair of goals from VMI ended up sealing the win. The Cadets tied things up at the 1:57 mark before a last-second shot finding the back of the net to put an end to a thrilling opening game of the weekend.

The offense for the Lakers started off strong against the Wildcats in game two as they put three on the board in the first eight minutes. Dombkowski got the scoring started for Mercyhurst with a goal midway through the quarter while Allstun followed with a goal of her own just 30 second later. With 1:38 to go in the frame, Rachel Vlietstra scored the third and final goal of the period to make it 5-3 in favor of the Wildcats going into the second. 

From there, Mercyhurst's offense went through a cold spell as they could not find the back of the net in either the second or third periods. Villanova made all the right adjustment after the opening canto and managed to silence their counterpart's attack. The Wildcats did have success on offense over those 16 minutes, scoring seven times to grow out their lead to 12-3 going into the fourth quarter. The Lakers did muster one goal in the final frame as Sakura Gavin got on the board, but it was not enough in the 12-goal defeat.

Highlights

Allie Dombkowski led the way in scoring in the two games for the Lakers, finding the back of the net four times. She was followed by Bri Allstun who finished with three while Grace Brzyski, Alexa Corrao, and Sakura Gavin each had two apiece to round out the top three goal scorers. 

Next Game

The Lakers play one more game on the weekend as they are set to return to the pool tomorrow. The team will see Mount St. Mary's at 2:00 p.m. in a remath of last weekend's match, hoping to get some revenge.