Mercer University
Robert Morris
Bears Suffer First Home Defeat of Season to RMU in Overtime
3/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University men's lacrosse team lost a heartbreaker on Tuesday afternoon at Five Star Stadium, falling to Robert Morris in overtime by a final of 11-10. The loss is Mercer's first in Macon of the 2016 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Orange and Black trailed 6-3 with five minutes left in the second quarter and then the Mercer offense came to life. The Bears cut the deficit to two goals by the halftime break thanks to a Chris Baxa score set up by Lucas Wittenberg. After the 10 minute intermission Mercer scored five straight goals to push its lead to 9-6 heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation. Baxa scored twice in the third and Matt Quinn, James Fromert and Kevin Yoggy each added one.
Robert Morris refused to go away, as the Colonials answered with four consecutive goals of their own to retake the lead with 5:44 left to play in the fourth frame. Mercer once again battled back and Yoggy completed his hat-trick with a minute left to force overtime. In the extra period both teams had chances but it was a Robert Morris shot from Alexander Bohl that found the back of the net to give the visitors the victory.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Junior Kevin Yoggy notched the first hat-trick of his career on Tuesday, scoring three goals against Robert Morris. The Mooresville, N.C., native scored one goal in the second quarter and then notched the last two Mercer goals of the game. His third quarter goal came with 14 seconds left in the frame to put the Bears up six and then he tied the game at 10 with about a minute left in regulation.
MERCER STAT OF THE DAY
The Bears had their best quarter of the year in the third against the Colonials, outscoring the visitors 5-0 in the period. The five-goal margin in a quarter is Mercer's best since achieving the feat twice against VMI on April 4, 2015. The Orange and Black have now scored five goals two times this season, with the other occasion coming in the fourth quarter against Siena on Feb. 23.
MERCER PLAY OF THE GAME
A rare occurrence happened in Tuesday's game, as senior goalkeeper Mike Nugent scored the game's opening goal. The Milton, Ga., native fired the ball from his own defensive third and it soared over the outstretched stick of the RMU keeper who was out of his crease and into the goal for the game's opening score. The goal is the first of Nugent's career.
NOTABLES
- The Orange and Black are 0-1 against Robert Morris in the all-time series.
- Chris Baxa recorded his third hat-trick of the season, all coming in the last three games.
- This is the second time Baxa has posted a hat-trick in three straight games in his career. The first came when Baxa scored 3+ goals in four consecutive games during his freshman season in 2013.
- In his last three games, Baxa has scored nine goals.
- Matt Quinn notched his fourth goal of the year.
- James Fromert and Walker Ensor both scored their first goals of the season.
- Lucas Wittenberg led the Bears in assists with two and the freshman has eight assists on the season with seven coming in his last two games.
- Mike Nugent recorded double-digit saves for the 31st time in his Mercer career with 10 on Tuesday.
- Mercer was 17-for-18 on clear attempts.
RECORD UPDATE
Mercer moves to 2-3 on the season, while Robert Morris improves to 2-4.
UP NEXT
The Bears travel to Louisville, Ky., on Saturday to open up the SoCon portion of their schedule against Bellarmine. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
STAY SOCIAL
For all the latest information and up-to-the-minute updates on Mercer men's lacrosse, please follow the team on Twitter at @MercerLacrosse.
