Erie, Pa. – The Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team outshot Notre Dame de Namur 42-21 over the final three periods and came back from an early two goal deficit to defeat the Argonauts 12-4 Saturday at Tullio Field.

Notre Dame de Namur entered the contest 9-2 on the year with its only losses coming in a 9-7 defeat to Catawba and a 14-13 loss to No. 4 New York Tech, the only unbeaten team left in Division II. But following a first period in which the Argonauts dominated play, Mercyhurst took over and looked like one of the top teams in the country.

Notre Dame de Namur outshot Mercyhurst 15-3 in the first period and scored twice in the first 7:05 to take a 2-0 lead. Mike Thon scored the first of a game-high four goals late in the period to give Mercyhurst some momentum and cut the deficit in half.

The second quarter belonged to the Lakers as Thon scored two more times in the first four minutes of the second, while Mike Bartlett and Tyler Burton added a pair of goals in the final 5:06 to give Mercyhurst a 5-2 lead at the half.

Adam Mulherin, Ryan Arnold and Kyle Plant scored the first three goals of the second half to give Mercyhurst eight answered tallies before Notre Dame de Namur was finally able to get on the scoreboard again with 6:58 to play in the third. Derek Pino scored 58 seconds later and Thon added his final goal of the game with 2:08 to play in the third.

David Osier and Scott Janssen added insurance goals in the fourth as Mercyhurst pulled away.

In goal, Jason Lashomb made 14 saves, allowing only four goals, over 58:26 to get the win.

Now 6-1 on the year, Mercyhurst will open East Coast Conference play by hosting No. 1 Dowling Saturday at 1 p.m. The contest will mark the second time this year that the Lakers have hosted the No. 1 team in the country, losing to then-No. 1 Le Moyne 8-7 in overtime on March 10.

2007-04-01