A look back at mercyhurst Athletics ’ fall start
With many sports able to compete for the f ir st time since the onset of COVID-19, the fall season saw coaching eras begin and end, history made, and student- athletes represent the Lakers admirably both on and of f the fi eld. With eight teams competing in the fall season: • Two captured regular-season PSAC West championships. • Three coaches received Coach of the Year honors. • Twenty-nine student-athletes received post-season honors from their conference, region, or coaching organizations. • Seven student-athletes were recognized for their athletic and classroom achievements. For starters, women’s soccer made a trip to the NCAA Tournament: a f i rst for Head Coach Jon Arlet and the f rst for Mercyhurst since 2008. Emily Mijares was named the PSAC Western Division Rookie of the Year and Athlete of the Year, while goalkeeper Maddie Elbro was named the Defensive Athlete of the Year. Further, the team saw f i ve players receive All-Atlantic Region honors. Elbro and Taryn Baxter were also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team for a combination of their classroom and on-fe ld performances, and Baxter was named a Scholar All-American by the United Soccer Coaches organization. Thanks in part to a late-season surge from senior Sidney Warden, the Mercyhurst men’s soccer team went 8-0-2 in its f in al 10 games to secure the regular season PSAC West Championship. Warden, who scored 12 goals over the past six regular-season games, was named the PSAC Western Division Athlete of the Year, D2CCA Atlantic Region Player of the Year, and was named a D2CCA All-American as well as a CoSIDA Academic All-American. All told, eight Lakers received postseason honors, including Dylan Sumner’s PSAC West Rookie of the Year and Head Coach Ryan Osborne’s PSAC Coach of the Year. For Osborne, hired by Mercyhurst in January of 2020, this marked his f i rst season as head coach. The Mercyhurst football team started Head Coach Marty Schaetzle’s f i nal season with a bang – an 18-3 victory over Alderson Broaddus at home on Sept. 4. The Lakers won three of their f i nal f i ve games and swept Erie County rivals Edinboro (a 27-20 overtime victory on Oct. 16and Gannon (24-13 on Nov. 16 at home. The win against Gannon was a proper send-of for Schaetzle, who was nearing the end of his 20 th season at the helm, in his f i nal home game. Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator Ryan Riemedio was named Schaetzle’s successor at the start of the season. Redshirt-senior libero Hannah Vuylsteke punctuated the women’s volleyball season by shattering the previous individual career digs school record and wrapping up her career just 17 digs shy of the 2,000 mark. In recognition, she was named the PSAC West’s Women’s Volleyball Defensive Athlete of the Year and named to the All-PSAC West First Team. The Mercyhurst men’s cross country team wrapped up its fall with a 14th-place f i nish among 23 teams at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championship on Nov. 26. The Lakers had four runners f i nish in the top 100, including junior Joe Groth, who received First Team All-PSAC honors after placing the highest any Mercyhurst runner has ever f i nished at the PSAC Championships.
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