May 6, 2007

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's lacrosse team will be back in the NCAA Division II Final Four for the fourth time in five years when the Lakers host a familiar foe in East Coast Conference rival New York Institute of Technology May 19 at 3:00 p.m. at Tullio Field.

The Lakers defeated NYIT 12-9 on April 28 en route to a perfect 6-0 record in the ECC and sole possession of the league championship. Mercyhurst has beaten NYIT each of the past four seasons and holds a 4-2 all-time record against the Bears.

As the top-ranked team in the country, the Lakers will host a Final Four game for the first time in program history and will look to advance to the National Championship game for the first time as well. In the other semifinal contest, two-time defending champion Le Moyne will host 14-1 Limestone. Le Moyne, at 13-2 on the season, is the only team to defeat Mercyhurst this year, handing the squad an 8-7 overtime defeat.

At 12-1, Mercyhurst has won nine consecutive contests since that loss to Le Moyne. During that stretch, the Lakers were unbeaten in six ECC contests and won a pair of No. 1 vs. No. 2 games.

After starting the year as the No. 3 team in the country, Mercyhurst opened the season with road wins over Catawba and Queens (N.Y.) followed by an 18-8 win over St. Andrews in the Lakers' home opener.

Mercyhurst then lost its only game of the season to then-No. 1 Le Moyne 8-7 in overtime. The Lakers bounced back, though, by beating Wheeling Jesuit and Seton Hill on the road, before defeating Notre Dame de Namur at home.

As the No. 2 team in the country, the Lakers defeated then-No. 1 Dowling 12-4 on April 7 to ascend to the top spot in the country for the first time in program history. After a pair of hard-fought road victories against C.W. Post and Molloy, Mercyhurst returned to Tullio Field to defeat then-No. 2 New York Tech 12-9. The Lakers closed out the regular season with wins over Dominican (N.Y.) and Adelphi.

Mercyhurst has qualified for the Final Four in three of the past four seasons, but has never advanced to the National Championship game. In 2003 and 2004, the Lakers lost to Limestone in the NCAA Semifinals before losing to Dowling a year ago.

The NCAA Division II National Championship game will take place at M&T Bank Stadium on May 27 at 4:30 p.m. in Baltimore, Mary.