Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team fought back from a three-goal deficit, but No. 1 Le Moyne scored 1:05 into overtime for an 8-7 victory. The win was Le Moyne's 62nd consecutive regular season win dating back to the 2002 season.

Le Moyne built a 7-4 lead on two Mike McDonald goals in the fourth period, the second one coming with just 4:09 to play in the contest. But Mercyhurst refused to fold and David Osier's goal with 2:41 to play cut the deficit to two. With time running out, it looked as if the Lakers would come up short but Bryon Lindner got Mercyhurst within one on a goal with 37 seconds remaining. After Le Moyne won the ensuing face-off, McDonald turned the ball over and Adam Mulherin picked up the ground ball. He found Mike Thon downfield and he completed the play by scoring the game-tying goal.

With all of the momentum in the overtime session, Mercyhurst won the face off and proceeded to work the ball downfield. The Lakers got two shot attempts to win the game but Scott Janssen's shot went wide and Thon's was blocked. Le Moyne cleared the ball and Bily Alex scored the game-winner 1:05 into the extra session. Mercyhurst, ranked No. 3 in the country, did everything it could to end Le Moyne's long win streak, getting strong goaltending from Jason Lashomb, a steady defensive effort, and an effective offense when it got opportunities.

Le Moyne held a 36-22 advantage in shots but the Lakers were opportunistic with their opportunities, posting seven goals on 12 shots on goal. Defensively, Lashomb stopped 14 of 22 Le Moyne shots on goal. Lindner led the Lakers with two goals and five others scored one each. Osier, Mulherin and Mike Bartlett each finished with two points along with Lindner.

Le Moyne improved to 2-0 on the year, while Mercyhurst fell to 3-1. The Lakers will host Dominican (NY) in their ECC opener Saturday at noon.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
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Le Moyne............  2  1  2  2  1 -  8
Mercyhurst..........  1  1  2  3  0 -  7
 
Le Moyne SCORING:
GOALS: Mike McDonald 2; Brian Cost 2; Nick Gatto 1; Matt Cassalia 1;
       Alex Bily 1; Tom Donahue 1.
ASSISTS: Brian Cost 1; Nick Gatto 1; Pete Gibbons 1; Mike McDonald 1.
 
Mercyhurst SCORING:
GOALS: Lindner, Bryon 2; Mulherin, Adam 1; Bartlett, Mike 1;
       Osier, David 1; Thon, Mike 1; Stocks, Simon 1.
ASSISTS: Bartlett, Mike 1; Mulherin, Adam 1; Osier, David 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
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Le Moyne............ 10  7 12  6  1 - 36
Mercyhurst..........  2  5  4  9  2 - 22
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
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Le Moyne............  4  3  2  1  0 - 10
Mercyhurst..........  0  3  1  6  0 - 10
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
Le Moyne............  2-4   1-3   3-4   3-4   0-1  -  9-16
Mercyhurst..........  2-4   2-3   1-4   1-4   1-1  -  7-16
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
Le Moyne............  3-3   2-4   6-6   5-5   1-1  - 17-19
Mercyhurst..........  4-5   3-5   6-8   7-7   0-0  - 20-25
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
Le Moyne............  1-2   0-1   1-2   0-2   0-0  -  2-7
Mercyhurst..........  0-0   1-3   0-0   3-3   0-0  -  4-6
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
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Le Moyne............  0  1  2  2  0 -  5
Mercyhurst..........  4  3  5  2  0 - 14
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
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Le Moyne............  5  6  4  6  0 - 21
Mercyhurst..........  7  6  4  4  0 - 21
 
PENALTIES - LEM 7/7:30; MC 8/7:30.

2007-03-10