ERIE, Pa. – Host Mercyhurst University fell to Gannon University, 23-16, in the first game of the Laker Invitational at the Hallman Aquatic Center.
The Lakers brought the heat to the pool in the first quarter with Petar Vujovic providing the game’s first goal. The Golden Knights retaliated by scoring a goal of their own to make the game one-all with seven minutes to go. Gannon continued to build off that momentum by scoring three more to break the tie. Aiden Botterilll got on the board for Mercyhurst, narrowing the Golden Knights’ lead to two at the end of one quarter.
In the second quarter, the Golden Knights continued their offense, scoring two goals within the first minute of the quarter. Declan Puacz put a halt to the run with a goal in narrowing the Lakers’ deficit to three. Gannon responded with two more goals, pushing their lead back to five. Botterill and Puacz scored back-to-back for the Lakers in chipping the margin back to three. Gannon and Mercyhurst traded goals with the Lakers’ goal coming from Ben Gavran. Gannon scored another goal to acquire a 10-6 halftime margin.
The Golden Knights began the second half with a goal in extending their lead back to five in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Vujovic scored his second goal of the game for Mercyhurst to keep the Lakers in the game. He added another to notch a hat-trick. Gannon responded with a goal, but Mercyhurst negated that with a strike from Vujovic. The Golden Knights and Lakers traded goals with Puacz notching his third of the game to wrap-up a hat trick. Gannon went back-to-back before Vujovic buried his fourth goal of the quarter. With one second left, the Golden Knights scored a goal to take a 16-11 lead heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Puacz fired home his third goal in the dawning moments of the fourth quarter to become the third Laker to record a hat-trick. The Golden Knights responded with two goals, pushing the lead back to six. Vujovic lined in his sixth goal to provide the Lakers a chance to come back. Gannon responded with yet another two goals and Puacz zipped home his fourth strike of the day to set the scoreboard at 20-14 in favor of the visitors with under three minutes left on the clock. The Golden Knights scored, but the Lakers responded with two goals of their own, with the first one coming from Vujovic for his seventh strike of the game, prior to Botterill buring his third tally to raise Mercyhurst’s hat-tricks to four.
However, Gannon iced the victory by slipping in a pair of scores to end the game with a 23-16 victory.
Information courtesy Mercyhurst University Athletics Communications
