Bears Battle The Citadel to 1-1 Draw

Thursday, September 17

Charleston, S.C.

3:00 PM

Mercer University

0-1-1

The Citadel

1-0-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Mercer	1	0	0	0	1
The Citadel	0	1	0	0	1

Box Score (PDF)

Photo by: Milledge Austin

9/17/2020 4:06:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Amaya Evans scored for Mercer. Jordyn Ebert made five saves in the net.

By: Kraig Doremus

CHARLESTON, SC. – Less than 10 minutes into the contest, Amaya Evans put the Mercer Bears on the scoreboard, but a late second half goal by The Citadel forced overtime, and the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw on Thursday afternoon.

Evans was the major offensive factor for the Bears, taking seven of the team's 16 shots and placing five on target. Mercer outshot the Bulldogs, 17-11, and nearly doubled the home team in shots on goal, 11-6.

Following Evans' score, Mercer would challenge The Citadel's Jess Newton twice more in less than 15 minutes as Elizabeth Hargis and Kendall Cook both forced her to make saves. Alina McCue placed on a shot on the net in the 35th minute, and Jordyn Ebert was challenged in the 37th minute but made her second stop of the half.

After 45 minutes, the Bears held a 1-0 lead over the Bulldogs.

Both goalkeepers made saves within the first 7:30 of the second half, but Mercer's next two shots on target would come spread apart – in the 63rd (Evans) and 74th minutes (McCue). The Citadel equalized in the 76th minute when Logan Dix, who scored both of the Bulldogs' goals in their win over Georgia Southern on Monday, converted off a pass from Kate Manzione.

Mercer would have one final chance to win in regulation, but Evans' attempt was saved, and the two teams headed for overtime.

In the first overtime, Ebert made a stop in the 97th minute, and McCue attempted to net the game-winner 64 seconds later, but was unsuccessful.The second overtime saw the same storyline with Ebert making her fifth and final save of the afternoon. Evans' seventh shot of the match, which was Mercer's last, was high of the net and the teams ended the contest in a 1-1 draw.

COACH TONY ECONOMOPOULOS QUOTABLES

ON THE TEAM'S PERFORMANCE
"It was a decent performance today. I think the time of the match and the venue change impacted us. It was a tight field, and we're a very athletic team that's not used to playing in that tight of a space. We were not crisp at times, especially in the first half. The Citadel was able to equalize in the second half, but I thought from that moment on we really put the pedal to the metal and pressured them. Amaya [Evans] had a chance late that was great. Given the circumstances I thought it was a decent match for us."

ON THE PLAY OF AMAYA EVANS
Amaya was a huge boost for our team. She consistently made an impact when she was on the pitch today. We're just not quite in sync yet given the limited preseason. We're still working to get comfortable and learn each other's tendencies. We will continue working hard in our upcoming sessions and preparing for Georgia Southern next Thursday. We have made improvements in each of our two matches.

NOTABLES

The tie marks the first time in program history that the Bears did not record a win over the Bulldogs. Mercer is now 7-0-1 against The Citadel.
The Bears have opened the season with back-to-back overtime contests. The last time the program had two consecutive games go into extra time was 2018 when they closed the regular season with a pair of contests that extended past 90 minutes.
Kitchens' goal was the first of her sophomore campaign and eighth of her career.
Evans took seven shots on the afternoon, game-high, with five.
The Bears will continue their three-match road swing next Thursday with an in-state battle.

UP NEXT
Mercer will return to play on Sept. 24 at Georgia Southern. Kickoff between the Bears and Eagles is set for 7 p.m. in Statesboro. Ga.

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