Erie, Pa. – The Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team made its push for its first ever No. 1 ranking by defeating No. 1 Dowling 12-4 Saturday at Tullio Field. The Lakers, who entered the contest ranked No. 2 in the country, shut out the top scoring offense in Division II during the first half, and picked the win in their East Coast Conference opener.

Although Mercyhurst looked to be in control with a 7-0 lead entering the third period, the Lakers had to withstand a huge Dowling comeback attempt to start the second half. The Golden Eagles scored four times in less than six minutes to cut the deficit to just three goals and Mercyhurst needed a goal to regain momentum.

The Lakers got that goal from Tyler Burton on an assist from David Osier, who had three for the contest, as the Lakers went ahead 8-4 with 5:16 to play in the third. That score put the Lakers back in control and Osier, Scott Janssen and Adam Mulherin each added goals over the final four minutes of the third period to put the contest away. Bryon Lindner posted the only goal of the fourth period as Mercyhurst won 12-4.

Mercyhurst held a 42-20 advantage in shots and a 42-34 edge in ground balls, led by Ryan Wallace's 11. The Lakers also won 15-of-18 face-offs (Wallace was 14-of-16), while each team struggled to control possession in the windy, snowy weather, committing 35 turnovers apiece.

The match was pushed back a half hour as the field crew worked feverishly to clear the field from snow that had accumulated over the past few days in Erie. But despite the conditions, the Lakers came out quickly as Mike Bartlett scored on a Mulherin pass just 1:18 into the contest to put Mercyhurst ahead. Mike Thon and Janssen would add first period goals to put the Lakers ahead 3-0.

Janssen scored again early in the second, followed by goals from Ryan Arnold, Osier and Lindner to make it 7-0 at the break before Dowling's spurt to start the second half.

Dowling falls to 4-3 on the season and 1-1 in the ECC, while Mercyhurst is now 7-1 overall and 1-0 in conference. The Lakers will play at CW Post Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

2007-04-07