The Gannon men's soccer team had its chances in the first half on Saturday, but in the second half nationally ranked Mercyhurst just pulled away.

The Lakers, ranked No. 6 in Division II by the United Soccer Coaches, scored three second-half goals and beat the archrival Golden Knights 4-0 at McConnell Family Stadium. First-place Mercyhurst improved to 12-0-1 overall and 5-0-0.

Gannon dropped to 9-3-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the PSAC West as the Knights fell to 0-4-1 against the Lakers in the past five meetings.

The game was scoreless for most of the first half, as Gannon outshot Mercyhurst 12-5.

However, Alex Aronsson scored off a corner kick by Dylan Sumner at the 34:53 mark to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead.

From that point on, Mercyhurst seemed to dictate the play, especially the Lakers' defense. They limited Gannon to three second-half shots as they took 14 shots and scored three times.

Lockie Fay scored on a long strike after a giveaway by goalie Samuel Alarcon (Madrid, Spain/Colegio el Valle II) to make it 2-0 after Alarcon couldn't fully clear a ball. Alarcon made six saves, including a couple of beauties, but he couldn't stop Mercyhurst's second-half barrage.

Sean Kerrigan added his team-leading 11th goal on a penalty kick at 83:28, and Jorge Tallada Torres capped the scoring with less than one minute to go.

Gannon senior Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain), the nation's leading scorer, had a team-high five shots, including one on goal, but could not cash in any of the shots. Herman Aanberg (Hamar, Norway/Wang Toppidrett Oslo) led Gannon with two shots on goal.

Gannon is tied for second place in the PSAC West as it heads into a home matchup with Slippery Rock on Wednesday at 6 p.m.