ERIE, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team was unable to overcome a successful second half penalty kick by Merchurst University Wednesday afternoon in a 1-0 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference loss.
 
The defeat drops Slippery Rock's record to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in PSAC matches. The Lakers improved to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in league play with the victory.
 
Slippery Rock got off two of its three first-half attempts early, but shots from junior midfielders Mike Pcholinsky and Jacob Thiel in the opening 18 minutes both sailed wide of the net.
 
Mercyhurst pressured The Rock's defense for much of the first half with 11 total shots, five of which were on goal, but SRU senior goalkeeper Kyle Hoffer stopped every attempt that came his way to help maintain the 0-0 tie heading into halftime.
 
Just five minutes into the second half, the Lakers' Sten Marcson was awarded a penalty kick following a Rock foul. He proceeded to beat Hoffer on the attempt to give Mercyhurst a 1-0 advantage with just under 40 minutes remaining in the period.
 
Slippery Rock responded to the goal by firing off six shots over the remainder of the half, but none of the tries managed to get past Mercyhurst goalie Daniel Lowton as the Lakers hung on to a 1-0 victory.
 
Senior forward Mike Ilodigwe, junior defender Patrick Sullivan and senior defender Ryan Lutke all tallied shots on goal in the final 45 minutes of play for The Rock.  Ilodigwe now has a team-best nine shots on goal on the year.
 
Hoffer matched his season-high with six saves Wednesday.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock held a 5-4 advantage in corner kicks, but was outshot 17-9.
 
Slippery Rock will look to snap its two-game losing streak 2 p.m. Saturday at Wheeling Jesuit in non-conference play.