(Photo Courtesy of Mercer Athletics)

The Mercer Bears are the 53rd DI program to release its 2023 men’s lacrosse schedule. The Bears are coming off a 2022 campaign in which they went 5-10 overall and 2-3 in SoCon play. 2023 will be Mercer’s first season under head coach Ryan Danehy and first in the ASUN.

Mercer’s 2023 slate features 15 games with seven at home and eight on the road.

Bears’ 2023 Schedule

Date	Home	Away	Notes
2/4	Bucknell	Mercer
2/10	North Carolina	Mercer
2/18	Mercer	Holy Cross
2/25	Mercer	Army West Point
3/4	Mercer	Air Force	ASUN
3/7	Richmond	Mercer
3/11	UMBC	Mercer
3/18	Mercer	Detroit Mercy	ASUN
3/25	Jacksonville	Mercer	ASUN
3/29	Bellarmine	Mercer	ASUN
4/1	Mercer	Robert Morris	ASUN
4/8	Mercer	Cleveland State	ASUN
4/15	Utah	Mercer	ASUN
4/22	Mercer	Queens	ASUN
4/29	Lindenwood	Mercer	ASUN

New Opponents

Army West Point, Cleveland State, Holy Cross, Lindenwood, UMBC, Queens

Teams Dropped

Hampton, High Point, Mount St. Mary’s, Navy, Wagner, VMI

Key Games

2/4 @ Bucknell: The Ryan Danehy officially gets underway at Mercer on February 4th when the Bears travel to Western Pa to take on the Bucknell Bison, where Danehy served as offensive coordinator just last season. The Bears and Bison played last season with Bucknell winning 16-14. This one will certainly be interesting, and for likely more than just the storylines coming in.

3/4 vs Air Force: Mercer opens ASUN play against one of its former SoCon foes Air Force. The two played last season in a contest the Falcons took 13-10. Mercer last beat the Falcons in 2021, 15-13, which was the last meeting (until this year) where both were in the same league. With where Mercer wants to be and in the current ASUN, a win over the Falcons may be needed for postseason inclusion.

3/29 @ Bellarmine: Another former SoCon foe whom Mercer reunites with in the ASUN, the Bears will travel to Louisville to face the Bellarmine Knights in late March. Each of the past three meetings between these two have been decided by an average of 3.3 goals. Expect these two to be just as competitive against each other in the ASUN. And with the current pecking order in the league, these two could be regularly fighting for the same postseason spots.