Irvine, Ca. - The Mercyhurst Men's Soccer team is looking to bounce back from an 0-2 start to their season with a pair road games this week.  The Lakers will open the week with a matchup against UC Irvine on Sunday, followed by a trip to Cleveland to take on Cleveland State on Thursday. 

The Lakers are coming off a week in which they dropped their first two games of the season.  The Lakers opened the season with a 2-0 loss to Pitt and a 2-1 loss to San Diego State.  Ryan Mrvcic scored the lone goal for the Lakers in the loss to SDSU.  Gonzalo Onrubia Delgado racked up 10 saves through the first two games, while allowing four goals. 

UC Irvine opened their season at Oregon State and came away with a loss.  The Anteaters returned home and came away with a 1-1 tie against Vermont, so the Anteaters sit at 0-1-1 so far this season.  Freshman Marcus Lee and Junior Agaton Pourshahidi are tied for the team lead in goals with one.  The Anteaters have four players tied for the team lead in assists with one. Redshirt Senior Luke Pruter (five saves) and Redshirt Sophomore Alex Shields (four saves) have both seen time in net for the Anteaters, each getting a start. 

Cleveland State is 2-0-1 so far in 2024, picking up wins over St. Bonaventure and Chicago State, while picking up a tie against Ohio State.  The Vikings will travel to Akron for a game on Monday, before hosting the Lakers on Thursday.  Graduate Student Bojan Kolevski leads the Vikings in goals with two.  Josip and Marko Rimac are tied for the team lead in assists with two.  Sophomore Stephen Yerian is 2-0-1 in net and has picked up 19 saves so far this season.  Yerian had a season-high eight saves against St. Bonaventure. 

The Lakers and the Anteaters will kick-off at 4 PM PT on ESPN+ on Sunday, while the Lakers and Vikings will kick-off at 7 PM on Thursday.  The Lakers will look to pick up their first win as a Division 1 program.