Bagrou’s Two Goals Lead Mercer to 3-1 Win over Jacksonville

Wednesday, September 14

Macon, Ga.

7 PM

Mercer University

5-1

Jacksonville

3-3

Jacksonville

Mercer

Bagrou’s Two Goals Lead Mercer to 3-1 Win over Jacksonville

9/14/2016 10:26:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Final Stats

By: Patrick Walsh

MACON, Ga. – The first was just being in the right place at the right time. The second was a showcase of pure skill. Will Bagrou scored two goals Wednesday evening as the Bears ended Jacksonville's three-match win streak with a 3-1 Mercer victory at Bear Field.

Mercer (5-1) scored as many goals Wednesday as it has the last three matches combined and the three goals marked the most allowed by Jacksonville (3-3) this season. Goalkeeper Jeremy Booth's only blemish of the night came off a penalty kick while Bagrou moves into a tie for the Southern Conference lead with three goals on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Will Bagrou picked up a loose ball that Jacksonville goalkeeper Patrick Harding couldn't wrap up in the 43^rd minute of the match, sidestepped Harding and easily put the ball in the back of the net from 10-feet out to give Mercer the 1-0 lead.

Jacksonville's Igor Ferreira scored on a penalty kick in the 46^th minute as JU drew even with Mercer but the Bears went back on top in the 59^th minute as Nickolas Tripodi netted a penalty kick for his first goal of the season.

Bagrou struck again in the 60^th minute, dribbling past a few defenders and firing an impressive shot from 20-feet out. That second goal of the match for Bagrou tied him with Wofford's Kyle Nelson for a Southern Conference-leading three goals this season.

MAN OF THE MATCH
Will Bagrou easily gets this nod. His efficiency was spot-on, scoring on both of his shot attempts. Bagrou's first goal came in the 43^rd minute as the Jacksonville goalkeeper couldn't handle a cross, allowing Bagrou, a Utah native, to take two quick steps to the left and easily score a wide open shot. His second tally of the night was much more skill oriented, dribbling around a few defenders and firing a shot from 20-feet out into the top-right corner of the net.

STAT OF THE NIGHT
Of the four goals scored in the match Wednesday night, two came from penalty kicks. Jacksonville's lone goal came from an Igor Ferreira penalty kick in the 46^th minute while Nickolas Tripodi's penalty kick in the 59^th minute notched his first goal of the season.

COACH BRAD RUZZO'S TAKE
"Obviously with our game getting canceled Sunday against UCF our guys were really looking forward to playing tonight. I think we came prepared. I'm disappointed we had that little lapse for about five to ten minutes in the second half to give the goal but I am proud of the guys for coming back and scoring two quick goals to put the game out of reach."

"Jacksonville is a really good team. They just beat South Florida at South Florida and in their last three games they have scored seven goals. We only gave up one and held them to six total shots today so I am really proud of our defensive effort in particular."

On Will Bagrou:
"Will showed tonight why he is one of the best forwards, honestly, in the country and he could play at a lot of different places. He has been getting a lot of chances and being dangerous and has only had one goal to date but I am very happy that he got on the board. That will give him some confidence moving forward. His second goal was simply an individual effort by him and a great finish."

On 11 shots and three goals tonight:
"A lot of the offensive output comes back to Will Bagrou and getting chances and really tucking them away. He has been our go-to guy. Max Poore has stepped up in the last couple games and coming into this game we have had five guys that have scored goals. I think we have a lot of dangerous attacking options. If we can get them all on the same page at the same time, we could be a really good attacking team."

RECORTS UPDATE

Mercer: 5-1-0, 0-0-0 SoCon
Jacksonville: 3-3-0, 0-0-0 ASUN

UP NEXT
Mercer hosts Georgia Southern (2-3-1) on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. at Bear Field.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's Soccer, please follow the Bears on social media at @Mercer_MSoccer (Twitter) and /MercerMSoccer (Facebook) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.