Bears Pick Up Point in 1-1 Draw with Charleston Southern

Sunday, August 26

Charleston, S.C.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

2-1-1

Charleston Southern

1-0-1

OT 3

OT 4

Mercer

CSU

Bears Pick Up Point in 1-1 Draw with Charleston Southern

8/26/2018 5:43:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Will Tharp

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Mercer women's soccer squad was unable to find a winner, drawing 1-1 after extra time to Charleston Southern, Sunday afternoon at the CSU Soccer Field.

STAT OF THE MATCH
The match was extremely physical from start to finish, with a combined 29 fouls between the two teams, a season-high for the Bears.

WOMAN OF THE MATCH
Sophomore forward, Abigail Zoeller, was the woman of the match for Mercer, scoring her second career goal and recording five shots in 78 minutes of play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer saw an early opportunity in the match as Abigail Zoeller found Brie Pavol off a corner kick in the fifth minute of play. Pavol headed the ball on target but was denied by the Bucs' keeper. Mercer continued to look for an opening goal, with six more shots in the first period, forcing the Bucs to produce two more saves. Neither team was able to find the back of the net; however, as the teams entered the locker room tied at 0-0.

The Bears came out of the break very aggressive on offense, recording four corner kicks and four shots in the first 10 minutes. The Bears finally found an opening as Payton Schurr drew a penalty for the Bears in the 64^th minute of play. Zoeller stepped up to the mark and fired one past the keeper for her second goal of the season.

Mercer would control the match with a few chances to put the game away until momentum begin to shift to the Bucs' side, coincidentally right as a rain shower came in the 80^th minute. After a mishap at the back, defender Haley McDuffee received a yellow card for a foul just outside the box which provided Charleston Southern with a free kick. Peyton Motley stepped up for the Bucs and curved one past the Bears' keeper to equalize the game.

Neither team was able to find a winner as the Bears entered extra time for the second time this weekend.

In the 91^st minute of play, Jordyn Ebert came up with a big save to keep Mercer in the match. Charleston Southern saw many opportunities with four corner kicks in the last three minutes of the period but Mercer's defense held strong.

Both squads battled hard until the end but couldn't determine a winner as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

NOTABLES
• Goalkeeper Jordyn Ebert played all 110 minutes in between the posts for the Bears, tallying three saves on the day.
• Mercer had seven corners on the night.
• Ten different players for Mercer recorded a shot.
• Twenty-three different Bears saw action in Sunday's match.
• Zoeller found the back of the net for the second time this season.
• Through the first four games of the season, Mercer has now scored 13 second half goals.

RECORDS UPDATE
• Mercer: 2-1-1
• Charleston Southern: 1-0-1

QUOTABLES
"It was a tough game today. We were looking to bounce back after the tough loss on Friday. I was happy with our effort but don't think we had quite the fire we had Friday night. I felt we played well enough to win the match, creating opportunities for ourselves but we just couldn't finish. It was a decent performance by us but it is still early and we are still young. We will look to bounce back Friday against Davidson hopefully." -Head Coach Tony Economopoulos

UP NEXT
The Bears will conclude their first road swing of the season, heading to Davidson next Friday, Aug. 31. The match is slated for 7 p.m.

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