Tough Brawl at Betts

Friday, October 22

Macon, Ga.

7:00 PM

Mercer University

5-5-5, 2-2-4

Furman

9-5-1, 5-3-0

Furman

Mercer

Photo by: Kurt Ebert

10/22/2021 11:35:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

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

By: Jake List

MACON, Ga. – After 90 minutes, and a hard-fought battle at Betts Stadium, the Bears came up short to Furman with a final score of 4-3.

BEARS MATCH INFO
Date & Time: Friday, October 22^nd, 2021 | 7 P.M.
Teams: The Furman Paladins at Mercer Bears
Location: Macon, Ga. | Betts Stadium
Twitter Updates: @MercerWSoccer

Head coach Tony Economopoulos had a promising mindset after tonight's match. The Bears were down, but he was able to light the necessary fire under the team needed to come out harder in the second half. He told them, "This is not the team I know you are. It's disappointing to see you girls perform under the level that I know you can play at." "I challenged them to prove to me and the staff as well as their teammates to play better entering the second half." "They know if they continued to play like they did in the first half, they wouldn't last long in the postseason". "Nevertheless, I was proud of them for being able to come out stronger especially since the bar was low entering the half. We went on an all-out attack and really made it challenging for Furman's defense. Unfortunately, we just dug ourselves too big off a hole to have to overcome a total of 4 goals. Hopefully, they will take the positives from the second half and bring that mentality and effort on Sunday against Wofford".

The Paladins were able to attack smarter in the first half and secure a 2-0 lead entering halftime. With their offense being led by Nieva Gaither they were able to get good looks moving in the Mercer third. As they played back and forth with the Bears, Furman pushed forward, and it was Gaither who scored twice in the first half. Going forward, the Paladins would score two more times with goals by Jasmine Greene in the 59th minute and Isablla Gutierrez in the 63rd minute giving Furman their total of 4 goals on the match.

The Bears were able to tie Furman in the first half at 8 shots, but couldn't connect the same way. As their targets just missed the mark by inches. MU was slow to start in the first, but that was definitely not the story in the second. Mercer came out so much stronger after that first half and recorded 19 more shots on goal in the second. The Bears dominated possession in the second half and their attack was a lot to handle for the Paladins. To start off for the goals for the Bears, Chandler Lewis-Jenkins scored in the 58^th minute from a screamer of a shot from outside of the 18. That shot opened the door for the rest of the team. As MU continued their push, Ally Fordham scored in the 75^th minute and Aliah Kitchens did as well in the 82^nd minute. Even though there were no yellow cards in this match, that didn't take away from the brute force that was displayed at Betts for both teams tonight. Just ask senior Kylie Buchanan or junior Lucy Brand how back forth these teams challenged one another physically. Mercer attacked and attacked, but the Paladins were somehow able to hold off on that finishing piece for the Bears to tie or win the match. Looking forward to the future, if the Bears are able to play a full 90 minutes as they did in tonight's second half, there is no team that they should fear.

Notables:

Jordyn Ebert recorded 8 saves.
Elizabeth Hargis earned the Grit Chain of the day.
Chandler Lewis-Jenkins, Ally Fordham, and Aliah Kitchens scored in the match.
Mercer moves to 5-5-5 overall, 2-2-4 in the SoCon.

Up Next:
The Bears will play Sunday the 24^th when Wofford comes to visit Betts Stadium 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