Mercer University
Richmond
Men's Lacrosse Falls to Richmond in A-Sun Semifinal
5/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's lacrosse team saw its season come to a close on Thursday night as the top seeded Bears fell to No. 4 Richmond 14-6 in the Atlantic Sun Tournament semifinals at Mercer University Stadium.
Mercer closed the year at 7-7 (4-1 A-Sun) despite receiving a three-goal effort from freshman James Tautkus. Richmond advances to face High Point in Saturday's A-Sun Final, scheduled for 1 p.m.
Mercer capitalized on 4-of-6 extra-man opportunities, but could not rebound from a slow start that saw the squad fall behind 7-1 with just 2:36 to go before halftime.
Tautkus scored two goals in a 21-second span towards the end of the first half that to close the margin to 7-3 at the break.
The momentum Mercer took into intermission was quickly stolen back by Richmond at the outset of the second half, as the Spiders scored the first four goals of the third quarter to take a commanding 11-3 advantage.
From there, Mercer battled hard before ultimately being eliminated from A-Sun title contention.
Sophomore goalkeeper made 19 saves while facing 45 Richmond shots in the losing effort. His 19 stops was just one short of tying his own program single-game record, set against Jacksonville last season.
Sophomore Chris Baxa scored a pair of goals in the loss while senior Eoin Collins registered Mercer's other tally.
The Bears won the battle of ground balls (27-18), but finished on the wrong side of a 45-25 shot differential. Junior Justin Evans won 11-of-22 faceoffs taken in the game.
