Mercyhurst faced No.17 Lindenwood University in a close Eastern College Athletic Conference games at Tullio Field. Although Mercyhurst outscored Lindenwood in the first and fourth quarter 2-1 in each, the Lakers lost the contest 7-8.

In the first half, the Lakers pulled ahead controlling a 3-1 lead. Senior Connor Enright scored the first unassisted goal of the game and then scored again at the end of the first quarter assisted by junior James Crowe. Lindenwood scored three times before sophomore Colin Greenway answered for the

Lakers with a goal to tie the game 4-4. However with just 26 seconds left, the Lions scored to break the tie and take a 6-4 lead.

A Lindenwood goal started off the third quarter giving them a larger advantage until Crowe scored an unassisted goal to close the gap. Lindenwood scored once more in the third quarter and again towards the end of the fourth quarter leading 8-5.

With under two minutes to play Crowe scored his second goal of the game assisted by freshman Kurtis Woodland and with 1:17 remaining McQueen also scored his second goal of the game but it was not enough to come back and beat the Lions.

Mercyhurst did not take advantage of the two additional extra man opportunities they had which could have tied or even won the game for the Lakers. Also, the Lakers outshot Lindenwood University by eight shots, shooting 32-24 times. The turnovers were key for this game. LWU got 20, while Mercyhurst got only 14. Moreover, the Lions dominated the face off match-ups, winning 12 out of 6.

On the defensive side, senior goalie Matt Wells managed to complete three stops, exhibiting another solid performance. In fact, Wells earned Eastern College Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in a row. Wells has 63 saves so far with a .485 saves percentage.

Despite his work in the net, he was surprised about earning this award.

“I did not see it coming. All of our defensive playerers are doing very well, so I kind of knew that one of us was going to win it, but not me,” Wells said. He also stated that this award proves the excellent job the entire team is doing, not just him.

This loss ends the Lakers’ four-game winning streak. However, the team feels motivated and optimistic for the rest of the season. This result leaves Mercyhurst with a 3-1 record for the ECAC and 7-1 overall. The next challenge the team faces is against the University of Tampa on Saturday, April 9, at 2:00 p.m. on Tullio Field.