Mercer Drops Hard-Fought Battle to South Carolina

Friday, October 9

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

1-3-0, 0-0-0

South Carolina

2-2-0, 0-0-0

South Carolina

Mercer

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

Mercer Drops Hard-Fought Battle to South Carolina

10/9/2020 10:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Brant Zulauf made his collegiate debut in net for the Bears

By: Stephen Waldman

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's soccer team closed out its fall home slate with a hard-fought 1-0 setback against South Carolina at Betts Stadium on Friday evening.

Prior to the opening kickoff, Mercer head coach Brad Ruzzo presented South Carolina head coach Mark Berson with a check for the Ovarian Cancer Society.

The Bears and Gamecocks battled back-and-forth throughout the contest, but a Christian Krause tally in the 75th minute proved to be the difference. Mercer outshot South Carolina 13-9 on the night while both sides generated five shots on goal. The home side also led in corner kicks, 8-7.

Kevin Kim was an active component of the Mercer offense by recording a game-high four shots, including two on goal. Leo Toledo Jr. and Ricardo Packer Jr. also took multiple shots in the match. In goal, redshirt freshman Brant Zulauf stopped four-of-five shots in his collegiate debut.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer created the first chance of the game in the 10th minute when a Dawson Gideon cross found the head of Trevor Martineau in tight, but South Carolina goalkeeper Nick Brady made a diving stop. Zulauf swallowed up the first shot that came his way in the 16th minute for his first collegiate save. The Gamecocks had one of their best chances of the first half in the 28th minute when Brian Banahan sent a free kick from 30-yards out toward the upper-left corner of the net, but Zulauf was able to quickly leap into the air and deflect the ball away.

Both teams continued their offensive pressure in the second half as South Carolina put a shot off the woodwork in the 56th minute and Mercer hit the crossbar in the 60th. The home team's chance came off a corner kick when a header from Joshua Harrison crept over the outstretched arm of the Gamecocks keeper and rang off the crossbar.

South Carolina managed to break the scoreless tie in the 75th minute when Christian Krause found the back of the net off a pass from Andrew Halloran. Mercer generated four shots in the final 15 minutes of the match, including two on goal, but was unable to get the equalizer.

NOTABLES

Mercer presented South Carolina head coach Mark Berson with a check for the Ovarian Cancer Society prior to the opening kickoff.
The Bears finished the fall with a 1-2 record at Betts Stadium.
Zulauf made four saves in his collegiate debut.
Kim tallied a game-high four shots.

UP NEXT
The Bears close out their 2020 fall schedule on the road with a match at Kentucky on Wednesday. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

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