Sports

Women’s soccer takes on the playoffs

By Sydney Dietz

Sports Editor

The Women’s soccer team was back in action on Nov. 9 when they played in their first PSAC playoff game.

The Lakers hosted the Edinboro Fighting Scots for the first round of the playoffs. Going into the game, the Lakers were on a six game winning streak. The result of this game once again kept the streak alive and it will now be a seven game streak.

The final score was 2-0, with Mercyhurst scoring both goals and Edinboro ending the game with no points. Mercyhurst got their first goal during the 17th minute of the game. Junior midfielder Amber Thomas kicked a penalty shot that allowed the ball to sneak past the goalie and into the back of the net.

This goal gave the Lakers the first point of the game, and also gave them the confidence they needed to score again.

“I was excited but knew we had to keep working to get another goal,” Thomas said in response to the penalty shot.

The Lakers ended the first half of the game outshooting the Fighting Scots 13-1.

The second goal was scored in the second half of the game by freshman forward Karah Van Horn. Van Horn’s goal was assisted by sophomore forward Emily Mijares. This goal added another point on the board for the Lakers making the final score for the Lakers 2-0.

This is what Thomas had to say about the win against Edinboro, “It felt great to get that first win under our belt and to advance as a program but we know we need to keep working to improve to achieve our overall goals.”

Because of the win against Edinboro, the Lakers would be advancing to the PSAC semi-finals.

“I am proud of how we played. We really came together especially at the end to keep winning out and secure our first place spot going into playoffs,“ Thomas said. “We had a rough start to the season but we didn’t let that stop us from reaching our goals as a team.”

The Women’s soccer team has not made it to the PSAC semi-finals since 2008, when they won the championship.

The PSAC semi-finals game was played on Nov.12 at 12:30 p.m. in Bloomsburg, PA.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Bloomsburg Huskies brought home the win, and will play against Millersville in the PSAC championship.

“Moving forward we will just keep working hard and taking it day by day,” said Thomas.

The final score of the game was 0-2. Before this game, the Lakers have faced the Huskies 19 times. The last time these two teams battled was in 2018, in which the score resulted in a 0-0 tie. Overall, over this past season the Lady Lakers are 7-2-1 on road games.

However, despite the semi-finals loss, Mijares and sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Elbro are being awarded for their accomplishments over this past season.

Mijares was named PSAC West Rookie of the Year along with Athlete of the Year.

She ended the regular season tied for the most goals, which was 13, and also ended the season with 40 shots on goal. Elbro was named PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year. Elbro played every minute of every game this season and recorded a Western Division-best ten clean sheet. Her save percentage was 82.4, which was in the top five of the conference.

Not only were Mijares and Elbro at the PSAC Western Division All-Conference First Team, but they were also accompanied by junior defenceman Taryn Baxter and Amber Thomas. Junior midfielder Madison Hoover received Second Team All-Conference honors also.

Mercyhurst has been ranked eighth in the regional rankings that have been released.

Hurst Athletics photo

Mercyhurst sophmore goalkeeper, Maddie Elbro making a save against the Edinboro Fighting Scots.

Men’s basketball plays opening game

By Gillian Mazur

Editor-in-chief

With their overall score last season being 12-1, the Mercyhurst Men’s basketball team is back at it again with their winners’ energy.

This past weekend on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13, the Lakers traveled to Shepherd, West Virginia to play against Bowie State University and Fayetteville State University in the Dave Russell Conference Challenge, which is a tournament hosted by Shepherd University.

Both Bowie State University and Fayetteville State University were selected to finish first in their respective conferences for the CIAA Preseason Poll, which makes the Lakers’ performances even more impressive. “We played two good teams. This tournament was a great opportunity to show how great our team chemistry is and the excitement to get back on the floor,” said forward graduate student, Cameron Gross.

The Lakers first played the Bowie State University Bulldogs on Nov. 12 and dominated the game, coming out with a 96-56 win.

Starting strong, the Lakers put nine points on the board within the first three minutes. Senior guards, Steve Cannady hit a three, MiyKah McIntosh scored four and Nicholas Lang got a layup.

With four players who had scored at least five points, at the end of the half, the Lakers dominated 48-17.

Cannady led the team with 15 points, McIntosh had nine, junior guard Michael Bradley had eight and Gross had seven.

In the first half, the Lakers shot 57.1% from the paint with 33% on three-pointer attempts.

The Lakers doubled their score in the second half, adding another 48 points.

The Bulldogs were able to break through the Lakers’ defense and score 39. McIntosh and freshman Pipeloluwa Ajayi both had eight points.

In the second half, the Lakers’ statistics both declined slightly and improved with 56% from the paint and 44.4% from behind the three.

Cannady and McIntosh both had game-highs with 17 points each while 14 of the 18 players on the team had points on the board for Mercyhurst.

Mercyhurst had 13 steals total for the game along with blocks from redshirt sophomore guard Jeff Planutis, Lang and Bradley.

The following day, the Lakers played the Fayetteville State University Broncos and took home a win with a 17-point deficit for a 77-60 win.

In the first half, the Lakers and Broncos fought hard, but Mercyhurst prevailed with a one-point lead for a 32-31 score on the board.

McIntosh and Planutis tied to lead the Lakers with seven points each for the half. Two of the Broncos’ players scored the same halftime scoring high. Both the Lakers and the Broncos had a 40% shot accuracy from the first half.

At the start of the second half, the Broncos came out hot from their gate and took the lead within the first five minutes.

They scored six points, turning the tide of the game for a 48-42 lead. Mercyhurst was able to take back control for the rest of the game which would lead to the game’s final score.

Cannady hit his free throws to score 12 points halfway through the second and Bradley put 11 in the back of the net as well.

Cannady finished the game with a team-high of 18 points. Freshman Aidan Reichert scored 12 and got five rebounds along with Lang’s nine points from the freethrow line. Together the Lakers outscored Fayetteville State 28-12 in the final ten. “I am very proud of my team on playing hard, and playing together throughout the weekend especially with guys making clutch plays in Saturday’s game,” McIntosh said. “I feel like I helped impact my team on both ends of the floor, and I am looking forward to doing whatever my team needs to do the rest of the season.”

The Lakers’ next game is scheduled for Nov. 18 at the newly renovated Mercyhurst Athletic Center versus Daemen College at 7:00 p.m.

Hurst Athletics photo

Mercyhurst senior guard Miykah Mcintosh attempting to make a shot against Shepard University.

Women’s basketball plays at home

By Gillian Mazur Editor-in-chief

This past weekend, the Mercyhurst Women’s basketball team started their season in the PSAC vs MEC Challenge hosted by Mercyhurst University.

This tournament consisted of four non-conference games, which took place on the newly renovated Owen McCormick Court.

The games were all played backto-back on their respective days but allowed each team to get at least one day’s worth of rest.

The participating universities were the University of Charleston, West Liberty University, California University of Pennsylvania (Cal U.) and the host and home team, Mercyhurst University.

The Lakers’ first game this season was played against the University of Charleston Golden Eagles on Nov. 13 which the Lakers lost by eight points.

The game was lost in the first half after being outscored by the Golden Eagles. Despite outscoring them in the second, it was not enough to pull out the win.

Redshirt junior guard, Julia Buchman, had 14 for the Lakers’ game high and redshirt freshman forward, Grace Centrulla, came in second with 10.

In the first quarter, Centrulla

Hurst Athletics photo

Mercyhurst redshirt sophmore, Carrie Jornlin, goes to shoot the ball against West Liberty University.

put the first two on the board for both teams, but it was not enough as the Golden Eagles hit a shooting streak scoring 12 points.

The Lakers and Golden Eagles were both able to score a few more times before the end of the first resulting in a 29-9 score going into the second.

In the second quarter, the Lakers were outscored again and the Golden Eagles led with a 17 point deficit. Both teams managed to hold each other’s attempts off in the third until Buchman hit a three around the two minute mark. Finding their energy as a team, Mercyhurst was able to turn the tide of the game, outscoring Charleston 10-8.

Charleston fought hard in the fourth and was able to put 18 points on the board while the Lakers managed to claw their way back to the competition in the last five. The Golden Eagles held possession away from the Lakers after building themselves a seven-point lead.

The final game for the evening consisted of West Liberty University versus Cal U. which was played at 7:30 p.m.

The next day the winners of both games played each other, Cal U. versus the University of Charleston at 3:00 p.m. Cal. U came out on top for both games with 76-60 and 63-54 wins respectively.

The second game for the Lakers, but the fourth game in total, occurred on Nov. 14 at 5:00 p.m.

Mercyhurst University faced the West Liberty University Hilltoppers and lost for a second time in one weekend.

Starting the game right, both teams exchanged leads multiple times in the first quarter.

By the end of the first buzzer, the Hilltoppers took the lead 2014.

The Lakers finished the first half strong just narrowly missing enough to be outscored 20-18. With a 40-32 lead, both teams definitely put up a battle in the second quarter.

Coming back from the locker room, the Lakers performed the best once again in the third outscoring their opponents 21-15 and closing in on the score’s gap to two points.

Junior guard, Jayde Boyd, scored the final points for the third with a layup, free throw and hit a three which was assisted by redshirt freshman guard, Paige Woodford.

West Liberty took a 62-55 lead early in the fourth, but the Lakers carried on and ended up on a scoring streak to tie up the game. In retaliation, the Hilltoppers took over the lead once more and held off the Lakers’ attempts until the buzzer.

“I think the last two games were a great learning experience for our team. Both Charleston and West Liberty challenged us and we learned that we can’t shy away from adversity. As a team we definitely need to grow in confidence offensively and to trust each other,” said Centrulla.

The Lakers are taking the losses in stride, “despite the two losses, our program is moving in the right direction, and I’m excited to get after it on Wednesday and bounce back,” said Centrulla.

With no PSAC or home games until December, Laker basketball fans can watch some of the team’s upcoming games on livestream. Times, dates and links can be found on hurstathletics.com. The next two games will both be played in Ohio at Notre Dame College (Ohio) on Nov. 17 at 6:00 p.m. and on Nov. 20 at 1:00 p.m. versus Ohio University.

The Lakers’ first PSAC game will be played on Dec. 3 at Shippensburg University at 5:30 p.m.

Men’s hockey plays Holy Cross back-to-back

By Sydney Dietz Sports editor

The Mercyhurst Men’s hockey team traveled to Worcester Massachusetts to face the Holy Cross Crusaders on Nov. 12 at 7:00 p.m. and Nov. 20 at 7:00 p.m.

The Lakers pulled out a win on Friday, but lost in overtime on Saturday.

“Winning the first game was definitely exciting, as our goal for that weekend was to sweep Holy Cross on the road,” said sophomore forward Mickey Burns, “Unfortunately, we lost the second game in overtime, but it was still an important 3 points on the line Friday.”

Mercyhurst obtained their second Friday night win with a final score of 3-2.

Just six minutes into the first period of the game, the Lakers scored their first shorthanded goal of the season. This goal was scored by senior forward, Steven Ipri, and was assisted by junior forward, Rylee St. Onge and senior defenceman, Devon Daniels.

Ipri’s goal was the only one scored in the first period, which allowed the Lakers to enter the first intermission with a one point lead. However, the Crusaders had more shots on goal, with the Lakers being outshot 8-9.

In the second period, senior defenceman, Owen Norton, got the Lakers’ second goal of the game

Hurst Athletics photo

Mercyhurst graduate student and Captain, Pierce Crawford, prepares for a face off against Holy Cross.

with assists from sophomore forward, Dante Sheriff, and senior center, Geoff Kitt.

After 40 minutes of play, the Lakers had two goals and graduate student goalie, Hank Johnson, had 17 saves.

During the third period, the Crusaders ended their chance for a shutout and got the puck past the Lakers’ goaltender Johnson.

This goal allowed Holy Cross to put a point on the board making the score 2-1 in Mercyhurst’s favor.

Holy Cross did not stop the scoring, during the 16:09 mark of the third period, the Crusaders tied the game making the score 2-2. This meant the Lakers had to fight to get one more goal.

With just under a minute left in the third period, junior forward, Gueorigi Feduolov, scored his first goal of the season and won the game for the Lakers. Feduolov’s goal was assisted by sophomore center, Marko Reifenberger, and junior forward, Jonathan Bendrof. The final score for this game was 3-2, with Mercyhurst pulling out a win.

The second game of the weekend did not end in the Lakers favor. The scoring started at 6:01 in the second period.

Mercyhurst was first to put points on the board with a goal from graduate student forward, Pierce Crawford. This was Crawford’s first goal as a Laker. Defenceman junior, Cade Townend, and Ipri had the assists.

Just two minutes after Crawford’s goal, Holy Cross scored, tying the game. However, Mercyhurst dominated the rest of the second period.

Burns scored his first goal as a Laker with an assist from Kitt and junior forward, Paul Maust.

“Scoring my first goal felt great. I wish we could have won the game in the end, but it was nice to find my first one with the Lakers,” said Burns. With just under five seconds remaining in the second period, sophomore forward, Austin Heidemann got the puck in the net and scored, giving the Lakers a comfortable lead. The assists went to junior forward, Jonathon Bendrof, and sophomore forward, Dante Sheriff.

Just four minutes into the third period, Holy Cross scored only giving the Lakers a one goal lead.

That changed when Maust scored giving the Lakers their two-goal-lead back. This goal was assisted by Daniels.

With 5:25 remaining, Holy Cross scored another goal, and then they scored again at the 19:32 mark, which meant the game was tied with each team having scored four goals.

The game then went into overtime. Only 24 seconds into the start of overtime, Holy Cross shot the puck past sophomore goaltender, Kyle McClellan, for the game winner.

Despite the goal getting past McClellan during overtime, McClellan had made 38 saves.

“I feel our team is in a really good position. We have had a lot of games go to overtime/shootouts lately, but not all have gone our way. We have been focused on figuring out how to close out games, and by doing so we feel we will be an extremely difficult team to beat,” said Burns.

“Despite these mishaps, we are right up there with the rest of the teams in our league, which puts us in a good spot to hold first place with a few wins moving forward.”

The Lakers will next take the ice against Canisius College on Friday Nov. 19 at 7:05 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.