Bears Drop Season Opener to Georgia State, 2-1

Friday, September 18

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Georgia State

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Georgia St.

Mercer

Photo by: Kayla Davis

Bears Drop Season Opener to Georgia State, 2-1

9/18/2020 10:28:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Trevor Martineau scored the Bears’ lone goal in the 69th minute

By: Stephen Waldman

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's soccer team dropped a hard-fought 2-1 battle against in-state foe Georgia State in the team's season-opener at Betts Field on Friday evening.

The Bears outshot the Panthers on the evening, 15-13, in addition to putting more shots on target, 8-7. Mercer also maintained the advantage in corner kicks, 6-2.

Trevor Martineau recorded Mercer's only goal of the game for the 24th tally of his career, while Dylan Gaither and Kevin Kim picked up the assists. Gaither was busy in the attacking zone all match long, recording game highs with six shots and three shots on goal. On the other end of the pitch, goalkeeper JR DeRose made five saves on the night.

Aris Briggs, Georgia State's leading scorer from a season ago, accounted for both of the visitors' goals, while Paul Tyson made seven saves in goal.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bears tested Tyson early as Andrew Anyafo carried the ball down the left side and forced the Panthers' keeper to make a difficult diving stop in the sixth minute.

Georgia State broke the scoreless drought in the 10th minute when Justin Guest dribbled down the left flank and centered the ball to Briggs who scored to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead.

Mercer generated another quality chance in the 25th minute when Martineau flicked a throw in back to Joshua Harrison who headed the ball just under the crossbar from six-yards out, requiring another acrobatic save from Tyson.

The Bears continued their offensive pressure in the early portion of the second half before Martineau netted a nice goal in the 69th minute to even the score. Dawson Gideon started the sequence by playing the ball down the line to Kim who chipped a pass to the center of the box at the end line to Gaither who headed the ball on goal where the GSU goalkeeper was unable to control the rebound. Martineau pounced at the opportunity and booted the ball into the back of the net to tie the game.

The visiting side regained the lead in the 81st minute when Briggs headed in a service that came from Georgia State's right back near the midfield-line for the eventual game winner.

NOTABLES

Martineau scored his 24th career goal.
Martineau now has 65 career points, the seventh-most in program history.
DeRose made at least five saves for the 13th time in his career.
Gaither tallied his third career assist.
Kim recorded his second career assist.
Nick Wanzer and Logan Longo made their collegiate debuts tonight, while Wanzer earned his first-career start.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to the pitch on Tuesday when they welcome Georgia Southern to Betts Field for a 7 p.m. kickoff on ESPN+.

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.