Recap: Penguins Hold Off Lakers, 24-15
The Lakers were on the cusp of upsetting the Youngstown State Penguins on Thursday night, but they’ll have to settle for a coming out party- nationally- for Adam Urena and transfer portal addition Dylan Evans.
Arguably, the game should have been closer. It’s an ever bigger argument to make, but the Lakers could have won this game. The Green and Blue had too many miscues- 4 turnovers for the Lakers to 0 for the Penguins- and scored only 2 of 3 times in the red zone. A missed field goal could have kept the Lakers within one score, but it was not to be.
The early reaction from Youngstown State fans seems to be a mix of panic and frustration with the secondary. The passing numbers for Urena were gaudy as you’d expect (2 TDs, 311 yards, 32 completions), but there were many instances last night where no one- no one- could have covered Urena to Evans. A back shoulder throw for a first down in the first half comes to mind. I understand the frustration- Penguins fans anticipated they’d walk all over the Lakers- but Urena and Evans put on a show last night. Evans complemented Urena’s performance with 95 yards and 7 catches. We’d already expected the Lakers to have a strong receiver room. Evans might have just put them over the top to be the best in conference.
The question is if the Lake Show will continue into the conference season.
Fortunately, we won’t have long to find out. Mercyhurst will host New Haven next week as the first NEC game for the Chargers (albeit an unofficial one) while Mercyhurst will have their first home game of the year before embarking on a long and difficult road slate out west.
Linebacker Jeff Leavell paced the Lakers defense with 9 tackles. He’s expected to make a big impact this season after previously being mainly a contributor on special teams. His first action as a regular starter looked promising. Mike Yurcich was hailed as a big hire for Youngstown State this offseason, but the Lakers held the Penguins to a reasonable 24 points. Perhaps YSU will get more production from their offense as the season wears on and the players become comfortable. We’ll get the chance to see their growth from Week 1 to Week 2 as they take on Robert Morris next week.
And for the Lakers, those improvements from Week 1 to Week 2 will be crucial, and they’ll have a full week to reflect on how to make the most out of those opportunities, as a 4-0 turnover margin won’t give them many chances to pull an upset. With a tough road slate on the horizon, they’ll need to find a way to keep getting better.
