ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon men's water polo team couldn't finish of a comeback effort against crosstown rival Mercyhurst Friday night at the Carneval Athletic Pavilion as the Lakers escaped the Carneval Athletic Pavilion with a 12-8 victory. 

After the two teams traded scores to start the match, Mercyhurst quickly built a 5-1 lead after scoring the next four goals. They Lakers netted the opening score of the second quarter before Gannon tallied a goal from Adam Wolf (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington). The Lakers added two more scored while the Golden Knights netted just one to hold an 8-3 lead at the half. 

Gannon narrowed the gap to 9-7 in the second half, with a score from Cody Sherman (Erie, Pa. / McDowell) and back-to-back goals from Tommy Nimrod (Glenview, Ill. / Glenbrook South). However, Mercyhurst answered with two straight scores, adding cushion back to the lead. Neither team was able to capitalize on scoring chances in the fourth quarter, as the final frame featured just one score from each. Mercyhurst added a goal with less than a minute left to cap off the 12-8 win. 

Gannon was led by Daisuke Takagi (Tsukuba, Japan / Namiki) who finished with three scores. Nimrod and Sherman each had two while Wolf added one. Wolf led Gannon with six steals while Nimrod ad three assists. Goalie Neal Zoellick (Homewood, Ill. / Homewood-Flossmoor) had 19 saves in goal. 

Gannon fell to 2-5 overall while Mercyhurst improved to 7-2 overall with a 5-0 mark in Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) matches. Gannon is now 2-2 in conference play. 

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Gannon Men's Water Polo Box Score
Gannon vs. Mercyhurst
Friday, September 28, 2012    

Scores by Quarter
Gannon (1 - 2 - 4 - 1 - 8)
Mercyhurst (5 - 3 - 3 - 1)

Gannon Goals (8)
Daisuke Takagi (3)
Cody Sherman (2)
Tommy Nimrod (2)
Adam Wolf (1)

Mercyhurst Goals (12)
Luehmann (2)
Strong (2)
Ariza (1)
Svorcan (1)
Matulis (1)
Solis (1)
Scarry (1)
Ogloblin (1)
Owen (1)
Page (1)

Gannon Saves
Neal Zoellick - 19

Records
Gannon - 2-6, 2-2
Mercyhurst - 7-2, 5-0