April 27, 2007

Erie, Pa. - Ranked No. 1 in the country, the Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team has a lot to play for this weekend. The Lakers complete East Coast Conference play with back-to-back games against conference opponents and can all but seal a bid to the NCAA Division II Final Four with a win over New York Tech Saturday.

The Lakers will play their second No. 1 vs. No. 2 game of the year when Mercyhurst hosts No. 2 New York Tech Saturday at noon. Following that contest, Mercyhurst will host a make-up game with conference opponent Dominican on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Mercyhurst and New York Tech sit at the top of the ECC standings and the winner will be in the driver's seat for the conference title. With a win, the Lakers would need to beat Dominican, winless in ECC play, to finish off an unbeaten conference slate.

As well, a win over New York Tech would go a long way in clinching the regional bid to the Final Four for Mercyhurst. With three regional champion bids and one at-large bid to the Final Four, the Lakers do not want to rely on the at-large route to the Final Four.

Mercyhurst comes into Saturday's contest as winners of its last six contests since a loss to then-No. 1 Le Moyne. The Lakers have outscored their opponents 77-36 during that stretch and have ridden a suffocating defense and a potent offense.

Mercyhurst goaltender Jason Lashomb has been named ECC Conference Goaltender of the Week three times and senior attacker Bryon Lindner was named ECC Player of the Week last week after scoring a school-record eight goals in the team's 17-9 win over then-No. 7 Molloy. Lindner was also named Nike Player of the Week for all of Division II by Inside Lacrosse after his effort and leads the country in goals per game.

New York Tech is the only undefeated team in all of Division II and is coming off of an impressive 14-6 win over defending national runner-up Dowling. The Bears have outscored their nine opponents 136-68 this year and have six players with at least 10 goals, a balanced offense that has them as the top scoring unit in the country.

Dominican has struggled through a 4-7 season but is playing well of late and enters the weekend with three consecutive wins since a 20-5 loss to New York Tech. The Chargers are led by a pair of 20-goal scorers in Alex Jones and Owen Smith III.