Sports

Men’s lacrosse dominates in West Virginia

By Zach Dumais

Opinion editor

The Mercyhurst men’s lacrosse team traveled to Philippi, West Virginia, on April 16, to take on the Alderson Broaddus Battlers.

The Mercyhurst men’s lacrosse team has been red hot as of late, as they were on a seven-game win streak going into the matchup.

Their record on the season was 8-2 and they have won all six of their games at home in Erie. The Lakers were just coming off of a great win against Roberts Wesleyan College on April 13.

In that matchup, Mercyhurst dominated with a final score of 26-10. The 26 goals were the most Mercyhurst has scored all season and there were two players who each scored at least five goals.

Alderson Broaddus and Mercyhurst have played each other many times in the past with this being the ninth game between them. Mercyhurst first played the Battlers on April 7, 2013, and it was a victory for the Lakers with a final score of 19-5.

The Lakers have gone on to win every single game against Alderson Broaddus, leading to an eightgame win streak against their GMAC rival.

Would the Lakers be able to capitalize on this momentum?

The game started at 4 p.m. and shortly after, the men’s lacrosse team was out to a hot start. In the first 15 minutes of the game, Mercyhurst was able to put up eight unanswered goals on the board.

The first quarter scoring was created by junior Myles Hamm,junior Bryce Johnson with two, senior Todd Redman, senior Liam Bogedain, junior Patrick Carrozi, freshman Matt Mojsej and freshman Jackson Saulpaugh.

The Lakers continued the offensive attack into the second quarter as they scored six more to go into the halftime intermission with a 14-0 lead. This offensive scoring in the second quarter was led by sophomore Casey Scott with two, freshman Antonio Rossetti with two, freshman Josh Michel and freshman Tim Weisenel.

The defense naturally played extremely well in the first half to prevent the Battlers from scoring. However, the Battlers did have a bit of a breakthrough in the second half. They were able to score their first and second goals in the third quarter.

The first was at the very start of the third quarter, just over two minutes in. The second came a little before halfway into the quarter at the 7:54 mark. These two scores would be the only ones that Alderson Broaddus would be able to score against the Lakers’ strong defense.

It was a relatively quiet quarter for Mercyhurst as they ended up scoring three goals in the third, making it a 17-2 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Saulpaugh scored his second goal of the day in the third, Michel also scored his second, and Rossetti scored his third.

The Lakers could not be stopped as they finished off the day with five goals in the fourth quarter.

These scores came from freshman Adam Oscarson, junior Jared Butler, Mosjej with his second, freshman Lucas Hoskin and freshman Kevin Sprague.

The final tally for the Lakers was a 22-2 win and they continued on to a eight-game win streak.

Hurst Athletics photo

Sophomore Colin Schmatz attempts to score in the April 16 match against Alderson Broaddus.

Get to know Hurst’s volleyball coach

By Sydney Dietz

Sports editor

Ryan Patton has loved volleyball for the majority of his life. Growing up, Patton has been exposed to high levels of play and ‘volleyball thinking’.

He stated that he has never had the chance to not love the sport. Throughout his life, his father coached volleyball and was in three halls-of-fame because of it. Patton participated in his first state championship game when he was 10 years old.

When asked about his past experience with playing volleyball Patton stated, “I’d probably sell myself short if I didn’t say I was a pretty good player. Anyway, I was probably as successful as a guy with the explosiveness and hangtime of a washing machine could be.”

Patton attended Juniata College and majored in math. Juniata College is a small college in central Pennsylvania that consists of 1100 students.

Although Patton graduated with a degree in math, he also got his Masters Degree in Physical Education in which he is utilizing to make a very good career for himself as a volleyball coach.

Patton started his coaching at Juniata College and coached there from 1996-2002. While he was a coach at Juniata, his team won the Molten Division III National Championship in 1998.

In 1999, Patton’s team was the first Division III team to advance to the semi finals of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Patton has been coaching volleyball at Mercyhurst for 18 seasons.

He started coaching in 2005 and has continued ever since. During his time at Mercyhurst, Patton was named PSAC West Coach of the year in 2008. In 2008 and 2009, Patton took the team to the NCAA Championship, which was a first in Laker history.

The best season Patton has had was in 2012 when the Women’s volleyball team won 25 matches which led them to the NCAA tournament.

For the 2021-2022 season, the women’s volleyball team had an overall record of 11-16.

“For at least the last six weeks of last season we played at an NCAA tournament level. I’m so happy with that,” Patton said. “Unfortunately before that we had a health issue we had to deal with and were frustratingly ‘close enough’ but didn’t have the results to actually get us in the tournament. I hold my head real high.”

Patton said the team has potential to achieve some neat things and he stated the team has the principles and precepts that make them bound for greatness.

One of Patton’s best memories as a volleyball coach is “seeing the team enjoy a hard-earned win and countless successes of my players both big and small, on and off the court.”

However, he also made it to the men’s D II national championship in 1998.

In addition to volleyball, Patton also enjoys the sport cricket in his spare time.

“I’m pretty obsessed with the sport of cricket and set alarms to watch games in India and Australia,” Patton said.

He also collects books and loves going to book sales to collect used books.

“I have a library of over 1500 volumes and to answer everybody’s next question, no I haven’t read all of them,” Patton joked.

Patton is not the only member of his family to work at Mercyhurst. His wife Jenell Patton works in Campus Ministry and also works with the volleyball team. The Pattons have two sons, Deke, who is 17 and Ike, who is 15. Both boys are keeping the volleyball tradition alive in the family.

Patton is excited for the next season of volleyball.

“Progress is what drives me, so I’m always excited for the next season, the next match, the

Hurst Athletics photo

Mercyhurst volleyball coach, Ryan Patton.

Heavyweight rowing continues to win

By Samantha Weber

Editor-in-chief

The Mercyhurst rowing team has had a very successful season this year; they even beat Harvard’s rowing team earlier this season.

Their success continues as the men’s team recently won four medals at the Knecht Cup on Saturday, April 9.

Mercyhurst had five boats advance to the finals. The men’s varsity fours finished second place in the Grand Finals as they came in behind LaSalle, but defeated George Mason University, MIT, Lafayette and Virginia.

In the Lakers’ second final, the women’s fours came in fourth with a time of 8:10.97 and were just .06 seconds short of coming in third behind Rhode Island.

They beat Barry and Thomas Jefferson and were defeated by Lafayette and Penn State.

In the next race, the men’s fours earned first place with a time of 6:59.21.

The Lakers were the only non Division I team in the race and they were able to defeat Michigan, Rhode Island, two boats from Pitt and a boat from George Mason.

In the Grand Finals of the women’s varsity eights, the Lak-

Hurst Athletics photo

On Saturday, April 9, the Lakers heavyweight rowing team defeated competitors from Michigan, Rhode Island, two boats from Pitt and a boat from George Mason.

ers had a time of 6:40.37 which earned them third place. They beat MIT, Villanova and Boston University while losing to Georgetown and Drexel.

In the final race of the day, the men’s varsity eights Grand Final, the Lakers were the only Division II boat competing. They came in second with a time of 5:53.56, which was just over a second after first place, Colgate University.

The Lakers came in second and defeated MIT, Marist, Michigan and Virginia.

Most recently, the Lakers competed on April 16 in Adrian, Michigan. The men’s varsity eights took first place with a time of 6:21.8 where they defeated Marietta to earn first place.

The heavyweight varsity fours defeated both Marietta and Adrian to win first place as well.

In the second final, the men’s lightweight team took home first by defeating Marietta’s two boats with a time of 7:29.4.

Women’s varsity eights won their race with a time of 7:35.7, which was 30 seconds before the next boat finished.

The women’s varsity fours earned the top seed in the preliminary round by finishing 28 seconds before the next boat and in the finals, they won by over a minute.

The women’s rowing team was recently ranked the top team in the country.

On April 13, it was announced that the team beat out the reigning national champion, Central Oklahoma, to take the 1st place ranking.

The Lakers will compete again on May 1 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the Mid-America Collegiate Rowing Association Championships.

Steelers tragically lose a great quarterback

By Bella Lee

Staff writer

The NFL has lost one of its rising stars.

Dwayne Haskins, a quarterback for the Washington Commanders and Pittsburgh Steelers who rose to prominence during his college days at Ohio State, was tragically killed on Saturday, April 9, when he was hit by a truck in South Florida.

He was less than a month from his 25th birthday.

Haskins was drafted by the Commanders with the 15th overall pick in 2019 and was preparing to enter his second season with the Steelers.

With the news breaking of his sudden death, tributes came pouring from all over.

Haskins’ alma mater, Ohio State, honored him on April 16 with a moment of silence, the players and coaching staff all donning “DH” decals and pins and CJ Stroud, the current Buckeyes quarterback, wearing Haskins’ number 7 jersey.

Haskins had a formidable career at Ohio State. Following a redshirt freshman year, he exploded in his sophomore year, completing 40 of 57 passes for 565 yards and four touchdowns. He holds the school record for total offense in a season (4,900+), total offensive yards in a game (477) and total passing yards in

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins passes the football to a teammate.

Sky Sports photo

a game (470).

Haskins’ teammates, both current and former, and his rivals also mourned his sudden loss.

“Dwayne meant so much to so many people,” said Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward. “His smile was infectious and he was a guy you wanted to be around. We are all in shock about losing him. We are going to miss the heck out of him as well. We lost you way too early. Luckily I got a chance to get to know you.”

He was with the Commanders (originally known as the Redskins) for two seasons, seeing his first win against the Detroit Lions in 2019.

“I am absolutely heartbroken to hear the news of the passing of Dwayne Haskins Jr.,” said Commanders head coach Ron Rivera. “Dwayne was a talented young man who had a long life ahead of him. This is a very sad time and I am honestly at a loss for words. I know I speak for the rest of the team in saying he will be sorely missed. Our entire team is sending our heartfelt condolences and thoughts and prayers to the Haskins family at this time.”

In 2021, he signed with the Steelers as a third-string quarterback, only seeing action in one game that season.

“The world lost a great person today,” said Steelers linebacker TJ Watt. “When Dwayne first walked into the locker room I could tell he was an upbeat guy. He was always making people smile, never taking life for granted. His impact on me will last forever.”

In the wake of Haskins’ death, a particularly heartbreaking video surfaced. It showed him as a child, touring the Ohio State football complex and proclaiming with joy,

“I’m going to go to college here.”

Haskins is a true talent that will be sorely missed.