CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Vikings (6-5, 3-2) got back into the win column with a convincing 16-9 victory over Mercer (2-8, 1-4) on Saturday afternoon inside the Krenzler Bubble.
The Bears opened with the first two goals to claim a 2-0 advantage with 11:50 left in the first quarter. Connor Zwagerman got the home team on the board with a strike at 6:11 off a feed from Cole Pollard. However, Mercer tacked on the next two goals to take a 4-1 advantage into the second quarter.
Cleveland State pitched a shutout in the second while scoring three goals to tie the game at halftime, 4-4. Dylan Tomarchio had the first and third goals, while Alex Van Voorhis had the second.
Mercer jumped back in front by one with a goal at the 12:58 mark. Just 18 seconds later, the Vikings retied the game as Wyatt Robertson scored off a feed from Amiri Austin.
Following a Mercer goal to regain the lead, a man-up tally from Pollard, followed by an Evan Moskwa goal off the faceoff, put the Green and White ahead 7-6.
The next two goals belonged to the visitors on the man-up as the Bears went on top, 8-7 with 6:36 to go in the third. Cleveland State stormed back with five unanswered goals to close the quarter with a 12-8 advantage. The stretch featured two goals from Tomarchio, along with tallies from Parker Yearego, Van Voorhis, and Robertson.
The Vikings ran off the first four goals of the final frame, stretching the margin to 16-8 with 3:47 left in the contest. Four different CSU players found the back of the net during the spurt including Tomarchio with his game-best fifth.
Mercer snapped the run with the 2:07 showing as the Green and White took home the victory, 16-9.
Tomarchio's five goals are tied for the third most in a single game. Austin's four assists are tied for the fourth most in a contest.
Moskwa went 9-of-12 in the circle with a team-best six ground balls. Drew Graves finished with a game-best three caused turnovers.
Connor Kernan got the win in goal after making 12 saves to go along with two ground balls and an assist on the Vikings final goal of the game.
The Green and White will look to make it two straight at home on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Queens.
