Mercer University
Manhattan
Bears Comeback Falls Short, Lose 8-6 to Manhattan
3/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's lacrosse team held a visiting Manhattan squad scoreless the entire second half of Tuesday's home game, but in the end failed to overcome a six-goal halftime deficit and lost 8-6 at Bear Field.
Mercer trailed the Jaspers 8-2 at the half and allowed six goals in the first quarter alone. The early onslaught by Manhattan proved too much as Mercer's courageous comeback fell just short.
The loss drops Mercer to 0-8 on the year while Manhattan picks up the win and moves to 2-4. The Bears scored the game's final four goals, including three in the fourth and outshot the Jaspers 33-26, but again couldn't find the necessary plays to record the win.
Mercer's defensive pressure late in the game was however impressive in limiting Manhattan to just 12 shots and zero goals in the second half. It is the first time the Bears have held an opponent scoreless in a half in the program's two-year existence.
The Bears caused six of the 17 Manhattan turnovers with sophomore Alex Goldsberry picking up two caused turnovers and three ground balls in the game.
Tuesday was the fifth-straight game that the Bears allowed their opponent to score first, with Manhattan netting three in the game's first five minutes. Sophomore Brett Eisenmann put the Bears on the board with an unassisted goal at the 4:32 mark in the first to make the score 3-1.
Another offensive flurry by the Jaspers equated to three more goals over the next two minutes and extended their lead to 6-1. Eoin Collins scored the first of his two goals on the day with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter to cut the Jasper lead to 6-2.
Mercer would go scoreless in the second and allowed the Manhattan lead to balloon to 8-2 with two goals in the quarter. A quiet-scoring third period saw the Bears start to mount their comeback when sophomore Keoni Rausch scored his third of the season. Rausch's goal was the lone score of the quarter.
With just over ten minutes to play in the game the Bears had cut the Jasper's lead in half when Collins scored his second of the day on a man-up opportunity. Collins' goal made it an 8-4 game and less than two minutes later Zack Ward brought the Bears to within three with his team-leading 11th goal of the year. Ward has recorded a point in every game this season.
Manhattan would tighten things up defensively over the next eight minutes, and put the Bears' comeback hopes just out of reach. Mercer tallied the game's final goal with 16 seconds remaining when Eisenmann scored his fifth of the season.
The Bears have one more home game set for this Friday before heading out on a four-game road trip. Mercer welcomes Wagner to Bear Field this Friday for a 1 p.m. start.
