Bears, Paladins to Clash in SoCon Championship

Saturday, May 5

Macon, Ga.

12 PM

Mercer University

No. 3 Furman

Photo by: Craig Chase Photography

Bears, Paladins to Clash in SoCon Championship

5/4/2018 4:45:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Mercer will face Furman at noon on Saturday

By: Mary Bess Skinner

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will take aim at its first-ever conference women's lacrosse title when it faces third-seeded Furman in the Southern Conference Championship at noon on Saturday at Five Star Stadium.

The fourth-seeded Bears (8-10), who are in just their fourth year of existence, are 60 minutes away from potentially earning the SoCon's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Both Mercer and Furman (8-10) advanced to the tournament title game with wins over No. 1 Detroit Mercy and No. 2 Central Michigan, respectively, on Thursday at Five Star Stadium.

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Tickets will be sold at the gate; $5 for students (must provide student ID) and $10 for non-students.

THE BEAR NECESSITIES
Bears vs. Paladins
Date: Saturday, May 5 | 12 p.m.
Teams: No. 4 Mercer (8-10) vs. No. 3 Furman (8-10)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Five Star Stadium
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: mercerbears.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @MercerWLAX

SERIES HISTORY
Mercer is winless against the Paladins in four games, including a 15-14 overtime loss on April 6 at Five Star Stadium this season. Both schools started their women's lacrosse programs in 2015; neither team has played in a conference championship game in the previous three seasons.

NOTABLES

Mercer is the only SoCon team to defeat top-seeded Detroit Mercy this season. The Bears bested the Titans, 18-17, behind a 10-goal second half in Thursday's semifinal round.
Six Bears earned SoCon postseason honors earlier this week.
- Kate Leone (First Team)
- Lindsey Zeltwanger (First Team)
- Audrey Robertson (First Team)
- Erica Coyne (Second Team)
- Michaela Lucas (Second Team)
- Sami Van Slyke (All-Freshman Team)
Mercer leads the SoCon in draw controls per game (15.00), assists per game (6.39) and groundballs per game (20.00). The Bears rank second in the conference in caused turnovers per game (8.72), free position percentage (0.450), points per game (19.94), shots per game (31.17) and shots on goal per game (22.82).
Audrey Robertson is the two-time defending SoCon Defensive Player of the Month, most recently earning the honor Friday for April. She is also a three-time Defensive Player of the Week.
Robertson leads the SoCon in caused turnovers per game (1.83), ranking 25th nationally. She ranks second in the conference in groundballs per game, averaging 2.78 per game.
Lindsey Zeltwanger ranks ninth nationally and first in the conference in assists per game (2.56). Zeltwanger's 46 assists ranks eighth nationally. She also ranks second in the SoCon in points per game (4.28), standing 35th nationally.
Kate Leone ranks second in the conference with 2.67 goals per game and third in shots per game with 5.56 shots per game. She has accumulated 48 goals on the season, ranking 62nd nationally.
Meghan Segreti ranks second in draw controls per game, registering 4.39 per game and totaling 79 for the season.
Iseabal Cryne ranks third in the conference in saves (130), save percentage (0.390) and saves per game (7.22).
Coyne leads the SoCon in shot percentage, registering 0.556 for the season, with a .792 shots on goal percentage.
Catie Snee helped the Bears to their win over the Titans on Thursday with her first hat trick of the season, a season-high.
Kate Christian set a season-high with four assists during Thursday's semifinal win.

SCOUTING FURMAN
No. 3 Furman downed No. 2 Central Michigan, 13-10, in the second SoCon semifinal contest on Thursday at Five Star Stadium. Abby Shields leads the Paladins with 57 points, including 34 goals and 23 assists, for the season. Sophie Brennan runs the draw circle, having won 56 controls this season with Morgan Franklin following closely behind with 54. Furman starting goalie Maggie Friel owns 90 saves with a .378 save percentage this season.

The Paladins had five players earn all-conference awards on Tuesday; one first-team; four second-team; one all-freshman team.

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.