Bears Lose Down to the Wire

Friday, October 1

Macon, Ga.

6:00 PM

Mercer University

4-4-2, 1-1-1

Samford

6-3-2, 3-0-0

Samford

Mercer

Photo by: Mark Powell

10/1/2021 8:45:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Mercer returns to play on Sunday at 2 p.m.

By: Jake List

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears controlled the possession and dominated the first half of gameplay, but the Samford Bulldogs converted a last-ditch effort goal in the 86^th minute to defeat the Bears, 1-0.

SAMFORD MATCH INFO
Date & Time: Friday, October 1, 2021 | 6 p.m.
Teams: Samford Bulldogs at Mercer Bears
Location: Macon, Ga. | Betts Stadium
Twitter Updates: @MercerWSoccer

Mercer and Samford fought a brutal fight with a combined 11 fouls in the match. In doing so, Mercer's efforts created consistently generated chances throughout the contest but were unable to connect in the final third. With that being said, the lone goal was all that the Bulldogs needed to secure the victory.

"We were able to come out strong and attack early, but were unfortunately unable to make that final connection necessary to put something in the back of the net," said head coach Tony Economopoulos. "We are constantly challenging our front line in practice to finish their opportunities. We believe in them and support them in their efforts, it just comes down to them when it's their time to choose their shots. Going forward we need to be more composed in those dangerous areas and be the clinical team I know we can be. Our team has such a high ceiling. After seeing what our defense can do and if we can put together the final pieces in our attack, I have no doubt that we'll have a bright future. We have to play like we did in that first half for the full 90 minutes every night."

The Bears generated a multitude of excellent opportunities quickly with ten shots in the first half. Mercer came close to taking the lead as the team was led by Kylie Buchanan who had five attempts on goal, all good looks.

Samford, when they could get by the Bears' defense, had some smart shots on target, but Jordyn Ebert stopped the majority of crosses coming her way to keep the match scoreless going into the second half. Substitutions for both teams were frequent tonight as each team was trying to figure out what rhythm worked best for them on the pitch.

Early in the second half, both teams came out strong and proved that they were determined to do whatever it took to win this match. Each team was not afraid to challenge in 50/50 balls or put themselves in front of the ball if that meant they could hold possession. In doing so, Mercer continued to attack into the box as Payton Schurr tallied two shots for the Orange & Black. Schurr and company did a great job tonight in testing Samford's Morgan McAslan.

As the clock winded down and players from both teams seemed to be fatigued after a well fought game, it was Samford who was able to use a late goal to their advantage. After a shot from Audrey Kleiman with 4 minutes left in the game the bulldogs were able to sneak the ball inside passed Ebert giving them the 1-0 victory.

Notables:

Buchanan led the way for the Bears with five shots.
Lewis-Jenkins, Cook, Hargis, Icen, and Schurr combined for eight more.
The Bear's defense is capable of shutting down any attack in the conference.
Mercer 's physicality is not to be tested.

Up Next
The Bears will play next Sunday when they host UTC at 2 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