Erie, Pa.- The Mercyhurst University Women's Soccer is set to officially kick off their run in Division I this week with their first two matchups of the season. The Lakers, who finished 16-4-1 last season, will first travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. to face off against Duquesne University before making the trip north to play Niagara University.
 
Mercyhurst capped their time in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference with a PSAC West title and a PSAC tournament semifinal loss in a 2-1 loss to West Chester University. Now in the Northeastern Conference, the Lakers have high hopes.
 
But before they see any NEC action, they'll have to go through a gauntlet of seven straight road games to begin the season.
 
The first of which comes against Duquesne on Thursday, August 15th. The Dukes are coming off an 8-8-4 campaign that included a trip to the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament. Duquesne is led by Junior Maya Matesa, who led the team with seven goals and 15 overall points a season ago.
 
The Lakers will then travel to Niagara Falls, NY where they'll play Niagara University. The Purple Eagles had a rough start to their 2023 season but were able finish out last year with three wins in their final four games, which pushed them into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. Niagara fell to Mount St. Mary's in penalty kicks in the first round.
 
Mercyhurst will look to start out their time in Division I with a bang, but in order to do so they'll look to some of their top playmakers from the 2023 season to lead them. Senior Karah Van Horn will look to match her productivity on the offensive end from last year, while the defense will be spearheaded by Graduate Student Alyssa Poleski and Sophomore Anamari Bosnjak.
 
The Lakers and Dukes will kick off the 2024 season this Thursday at 7:00 pm and the action can be caught on ESPN+.