JU men's lacrosse cruises past Mercer to earn ASUN championship berth

The Jacksonville University men's lacrosse team left no doubt this year in the ASUN Semifinals.

A year after losing to Air Force 15-12 in a semifinal game and their first-ever ASUN Tournament at home, the top-seeded Dolphins got four goals each from Bolles graduate Daylin John-Hill and Jack Russo and swamped No. 4 Mercer 18-3 on May 1 at Rock Stadium, earning a championship game berth on May 3 against Air Force (1 p.m., ESPN+).

Daylin John-Hill of Jacksonville University's lacrosse team celebrates one of his four goals on May 1 during an ASUN tournament semifinal game at JU's Rock Stadium. The Dolphins won 18-3 to earn a spot in the championship game against Air Force on May 3, at 1 p.m.

Air Force beat Utah 13-12 in the other semifinal, the fifth consecutive victory for the Falcons in the Rocky Mountain rivalry, all decided by one goal. The Falcons won 14-13 in overtime six days ago in Salt Lake City to close the regular season.

Air Force (7-7) is 9-8 against JU (9-5) overall but the Dolphins won 16-10 in Colorado Springs on March 28 and have gone 7-3 against the Falcons since snapping a six-game losing streak in the series in 2018.

JU jumped over Mercer (6-8) for a 6-0 lead in the first period, with John-Hill scoring the first two goals and Jack Taylor the next two. Taylor (three goals, five assists) then assisted on the next two goals by John-Hill and Nicky Brown.

The Dolphins led 10-2 at halftime, 12-2 through three periods and then poured it on by outscoring the Bears 6-0 in the fourth quarter.