Mercer University
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North Fla.
Bears Fall in Overtime at UNF, 2-1
10/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Mercer men's soccer team's comeback effort was all for naught as a golden goal in the first overtime period by junior Theo Fulger gave North Florida a 2-1 win on Thursday evening at Hodges Stadium.
The defeat for Mercer (7-5-1, 2-4-0 A-Sun) is its second in a row, marking the first time it has lost back-to-back games all season. UNF (3-8-0, 2-4-0 A-Sun) moves into a tie with the Bears in the conference standings after the victory.
The Orange and Black out-shot the Ospreys 13-9, but UNF held a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.
Mercer senior Ian Cameron had a golden chance to give the Bears an early lead in the 12th minute of the match, but was denied by UNF goalkeeper Andrew Calise. Cameron was awarded a penalty kick when a Mercer player was fouled in the box, but Cameron's penalty kick try was saved by Calise to keep the score knotted at 0-0.
Play entered a standstill for the remainder of the half, with neither side creating many scoring opportunities, until UNF earned a penalty kick of its own. A handball in the box by a Mercer defender created the penalty kick chance that senior Adam O'Neill buried in the lower right-hand part of the net to give the Ospreys a 1-0 lead going into halftime.
The Orange and Black dominated play throughout the second half using the full length of the pitch to stretch the UNF defense. The effort finally paid off for the Bears in the 76th minute of play when junior Phil Thoren whipped in a cross that was headed into the goal by a UNF defender for an own goal to tie the game, at 1-1.
The match eventually went to overtime and that is when Fulger sent the UNF fans home happy. The Gainesville, Fla. native fired in a shot from about 25 yards out that beat Mercer goalkeeper Brett Petricek for the golden goal to end the match with only two minutes gone by in the first overtime period.
Petricek made six saves in a losing effort, while Calise tallied five stops to earn the win.
Mercer stays on the road for another A-Sun conference tilt against Jacksonville on Saturday, October 23. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Ashley Sports Complex.
