Mercer University
Kennesaw St.
Svede, Murphy Lift Mercer to 2-1 Double OT Win over Owls
10/11/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer women's soccer team used a goal from freshman Haleigh Svede in the 109th minute of double overtime to seal a 2-1 comeback win over Kennesaw State on Friday evening at Bear Field.
Mercer (8-5-2, 3-1-1 A-Sun) is now 3-0-1 in its last four meetings against Kennesaw State (6-7-0, 3-2-0 A-Sun) and jumps ahead of the Owls into second-place in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings.
Things got off to a rough start for Mercer as Kennesaw State used a long free kick goal by junior Jewelia Strickland in the 34th minute of the contest to take a 1-0 lead.
The Bears kept searching for an equalizer as the second half moved along and eventually found it thanks to an unlikely scoring combination. Junior MacKenzie Stewart crossed in a ball that freshman Kim Murphy one-timed past the KSU goalkeeper to tie things up at 1-1 in the 71st minute.
The goal was Murphy's first career tally and the assist by Stewart was just the second helper of her career.
That is the way things stayed through the end of regulation and the first overtime period.
Mercer finally got the break it was looking for with just a minute left in the game thanks to the left foot of Svede. The Minisink, N.Y. native ran into a crowd of Kennesaw State defenders and managed to put a left-footed shot on the ball that slipped to the left and past Owls goalkeeper Olivia Sturdivant to set off a frenzied celebration for the home team.
Sophomore Maggie Cropp was big in net for Mercer all night long, making a career-high nine saves to help the Bears complete the comeback win.
Mercer is now off for the remainder of the weekend and won't be back in action until October 18 when it welcomes Florida Gulf Coast to Macon. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Bear Field.
