New/Sortable Box Score  |  Traditional Box Score (HTML)

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The eighth-ranked Slippery Rock University men's soccer team saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end Saturday night with a 2-1 loss to Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

The win for Mercyhurst puts the Lakers in the driver's seat with control of their own destiny in search for the PSAC regular season title and hosting rights for the conference final four.

Slippery Rock suffered just its second loss of the year to drop to 10-2-1 overall and 5-2 in PSAC games. The loss is also just the sixth taken by The Rock since the beginning of the 2012 season.

Mercyhurst improves to 11-3 overall and 8-1 in PSAC games with the win.

The game was a tale of two halves, with the Lakers scoring both goals in the first half and controlling the pace of play. Slippery Rock had the edge in the second half, tallying a goal and getting multiple chances to equalize.

Mercyhurst finished the game with advantages of 17-10 on total shots, 10-4 in shots on goal and 10-4 in corner kicks.

Fernando Martinez opened the scoring in the 13th minute to put Mercyhurst up 1-0.

Martinez assisted a goal from Jack Watson in the 43rd minute that sent the Lakers to halftime leading 2-0.

Stephen Donnelly tallied The Rock's goal after taking a pass from Dom Francis and breaking away in the 56th minute to cut the deficit to one.

Donnelly had a great chance to tie the game late, but Mercyhurst keeper Mikko Sarkkinen made a leaping save to keep his team in front.

Sarkkinen made three saves in earning the win, while Chris Zier suffered his first loss as a starter after recording seven saves in goal for Slippery Rock.

The Rock will look to bounce back when it hosts a pair of games next weekend, with East Stroudsburg visiting Friday for a 3:30 p.m. game and West Chester visiting Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. game.