The Lindenwood men's lacrosse team concluded its spring break trip with an 8-7 upset win over No. 7 Mercyhurst on Saturday. The Lions entered the game No. 17 in the Nike/USILA Division II rankings.  
 
After allowing the first goal of the game, the Lions responded with a goal from Kevin Eskridge off a pass from Josh Coons in the first quarter. The Lakers scored the next two goals to give them a 3-1 lead with 8:47 remaining in the second quarter. Two minutes later, Sean Darroch dished a pass to Spencer Elmore for a score. Coons and Tyler Eidel followed suit with a goal each to give the Lions their first lead of the game at the 3:38 mark. The Lakers tied the game up, but Darroch connected with Elmore for the second time in the quarter with just 26 seconds left to give the Lions a 5-4 lead heading into halftime.
 
In the third quarter, the Lakers committed a slashing penalty that sat a man out for one minute. The Lions wasted no time on the man-up opportunity as David Corazalla found the net for a goal at the 11:09 mark. The Lakers would then cut the lead back to one with 9:24 mark in which neither team scored until 32 seconds left in the quarter. Eskridge took a helper from Jon George and scored to give the Lions a 7-5 lead after three quarters completed.
 
Neither team scored until 4:52 remaining when Coons scored his second goal of the game to extend the Lions' lead to three. With two minutes left, Mercyhurst attempted to mount a comeback as they scored two goals. They shot four more times after 1:17 left, but Ben Besancenez saved three of them to halt the Lakers from tying the game.
 
Coons has scored five goals in his last two games while Eskridge rebounded off his scoreless outing against Roberts Wesleyan with two goals. Tyler Schermann converted over 50 percent of his face-off attempts for the seventh time this season as he went 12 for 18 against the Lakers. He also lured in a team-high eight groundballs.
 
On defense, two Lions made their presence known as Connor Laird and Gabe Monteleone forced a combined seven turnovers. Matt Leonard also caused one. Besancenez held the opposing team under 10 goals for the fifth straight game while also registering 13 saves.
 
The Lions will take a week off before stepping up to another lucrative matchup with a ranked-opponent. The No. 8-ranked Lake Erie College will roll into Hunter Stadium on Saturday, April 9 at 1 pm.