ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon men's water polo team lost to Mercyhurst for the second time this season in a Friday night match at the Carneval Athletic Pavilion by a score of 14-10. 

The Golden Knights and Lakers played even for the first two quarters, tied at five all at the half. Momentum went the Lakers way in the second half as Mercyhurst would explode for nine goals and out-score Gannon 9-5 in the final 16 minutes to take the win. 

Daisuke Takagi (Tsukuba, Japan / Namiki) and Greg Naranjo (Coral Springs, Fla. / Stoneman Douglas) opened the scoring and helped Gannon to a 4-3 advantage after the first quarter. 

The teams traded punches for much of the second and third quarters with the score tied five times during the two frames. Mercyhurst was able to stretch the lead after going on a 4-1 run to end the game. Goalkeeper Andy Sekulski kept Gannon off the board during the run with impressive blocks on three consecutive Golden Knight shots. 

Offensively, Gannon was led by Naranjo's three goals and six steals. Takagi added three goals and four assists. Stephen Espinet (Port of Spain, Trinidad / Maple Leaf) had two goals, five steals and three assists in the match. Deven Williams (Fort Lauderdale, Fla. / Alvin, Tx.) had 15 blocks for Gannon. Mercyhurst was lead by Kane Ashton and Brett Leuhmann, who each had four goals. 

Mercyhurst improves to 9-3 this season and is undefeated in Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) matches at 4-0. Gannon now sits at 4-5 overall and 3-2 in CWPA matches. 

Gannon will play twice Saturday, October 2 facing off against Salem International at 10 a.m. and later taking on Washington & Jefferson at 8 p.m.

Gannon Men's Water Polo Boxscore
vs. Mercyhurst College
Friday, October 1, 2010

Team (1st - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - Final)
Gannon (4 - 1 - 4 - 1 - 10)
Mercyhurst (3 - 2 - 6 - 5 - 14)

Gannon Goals (10)
Greg Nelson (3)
Daisuke Takagi (3)
Stephen Espinet (2)
Greg Nelson (1)
Kenny Milburn (1) 

Mercyhurst Goals (14)
Kane Ashton (4)
Brett Leuhmann (4)
Danilo Svorcan (2)
William Page (2)
Josh Rodriguez (1)
Alex Moggridge (1)

Gannon Goalkeepers
Deven Williams (15)