Early Lead Helps Bears Outlast Titans

Sunday, March 26

Detroit, Mich.

11:00 AM

Mercer University

7-2, 2-0ASUN

Detroit Mercy

2-8, 0-2ASUN

Mercer

Detroit Mercy

Photo by: Bill Hirsh

3/26/2017 2:15:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

DETROIT – Mercer surged to an early lead off four first-half goals from Kate Leone and the Bears held on for a 9-7 victory over Detroit Mercy to start ASUN play with a 2-0 record. Leone led Mercer with a season-high six goals on the day and Lindsey Zeltwanger added a career-high-tying six assists and a goal to lead the Bears with seven points.

The win marked Mercer's second-straight road win, the first time in program history that the Bears have won back-to-back games away from home. At 7-2 on the season, Mercer has also tied the program record for wins in a single season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Leone started the scoring early, putting Mercer on the board just over a minute into the game. Minutes later, Kelly Hagerty made it 2-0 in Mercer's favor but Detroit Mercy added a pair of goals to knot the score, 2-2, with 17:27 remaining in the first half. Mercer answered with a 4-0 run, which included three goals from Leone, as the Bears went up 6-2. The Titans scored another goal and Mercer entered halftime with a 6-3 advantage.

The Bears started the second half strong, scoring three unanswered goals in 15 minutes to stretch their lead to 9-3. With 14:40 on the clock, Detroit Mercy started a rally and went on to score four straight goals to cut Mercer's lead to 9-7 with 4:09 remaining. The Bears held off the Titans in the final minutes to win 9-7.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Kate Leone scored a season-high six goals, including four in the first half. This is the seventh game this season in which Leone has tallied three or more goals. She also had a career-high-tying two caused turnovers, a ground ball and a draw control.

STAT OF THE GAME
Mercer's ride was effective on Sunday as Detroit Mercy was just 13-for-21 on clears.

NOTABLES

Kate Leone scored a season-high six goals and had a career-high-tying two caused turnovers, a ground ball and a draw control.
Lindsey Zeltwanger led Mercer with seven points off a goal and a career-high-tying six assists. She also had two caused turnovers, two draw controls and a ground ball.
Erica Coyne scored a goal and tied her season high of three draw controls.
Catie Snee had a career-high-tying two caused turnovers and added three ground balls.
Taylor Horner had a career-high two caused turnovers and added two ground balls.
Meghan Segreti had a draw control, a ground ball and a caused turnover. She now has 150 career draw controls.
Audrey Allen had a career-high-tying four ground balls for the Bears.
Katie Martin had a career-high two caused turnovers and a career-high-tying two ground balls.
Audrey Robertson had three ground balls and a caused turnover. Her one caused turnover gives her 19 on the season and sole possession of first place on Mercer's single-season leaderboard.
In goal, Haleigh Wurzel made eight saves and scooped up four ground balls for the Bears.

RECORDS UPDATE

Mercer: 7-2, 2-0 ASUN
Detroit Mercy: 2-7, 0-2 ASUN

UP NEXT

Mercer: At Kennesaw State on Sunday, April 2 at 1 p.m.
Detroit Mercy: Hosts Furman on Friday, March 31 at 3 p.m.

How to Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer Women's Lacrosse, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerWLax (Twitter), /MercerWomensLacrosse (Facebook) and @MercerWLax (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.