Three Goals Three Points

Sunday, October 24

Macon, Ga.

02:00 PM

Mercer University

6-5-5, 3-2-4

Wofford

5-12-1, 3-5-1

Wofford

Mercer

10/24/2021 6:55:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Bears will play in the SoCon Tournament this Friday.

By: Jake List

MACON, Ga. – After 90 minutes, the Bear's earned a victory on their senior day with three goals on the match. Two of which came from some of today's celebrated players, Ally Fordham and Pace Stephenson.

BEARS MATCH INFO
Date & Time: Friday, October 24th , 2021 | 2 P.M.
Teams: Wofford Terriers at Mercer Bears
Location: Macon, Ga. | Betts Stadium
Twitter Updates: @MercerWSoccer

Head coach Tony Economopoulos' promising mindset from Friday's match was illustrated by his seniors in today's game. Mercer entered the second half with a 0-0 tie, but that wouldn't be the case for much longer. He told them at the half, "I know this game is an emotional one, especially when we are celebrating six players, so you have to go out there and play for them". "I know you can play harder than this so I want to see you guys prove to everyone here that you can. "We knew we had a great attack started in the first half it was just about putting our finishing pieces together". "Thankfully, we could." "We were able to come back out in the second half and score three goals, one of them coming from a very deserving PK." "With this game behind us, we have now scored six goals in our last two games and will look forward to utilizing that momentum as we enter the postseason. We have no intentions of being a one and done team and we want to show the rest of the conference that we can play on anyone's level and look forward to showcasing those talents come Friday in Birmingham."

Wofford was able to attack in the first half, but like the Bears, were unable to put anything away. The Terrier offense was led by Rachel Rasins and Mia Bookhard. Both were able to document two shots a piece on the day. As they played back and forth with the Bears in the second half, Wofford pushed forward, and mirrored their first half performance in unfortunately not being able to find the back of the net. Going forward, Lexi Reichenbach pressed and had two shots of her own late in the match helping Wofford reach their total of 11 shots while Maria Mon had 7 saves against the Bears.

As we know, the Bears entered the second half with a 0-0 tie, but that wouldn't be the final score. As their targets in the first just missed the mark, MU put the missing pieces of their offense together after 45 minutes. The Bears did not wish to emulate much of their performance from Friday's match, however they were able to duplicate three more goals on the day. Mercer came out and played much smarter after their halftime speech and recorded 16 more shots on goal. The Bears dominated possession in the second half and their attack was a lot to handle for the Terriers. To start off the goals for MU, senior Pace Stephenson scored just four minutes into the second half off a header in the 18'. That shot opened the door for the rest of the team. As Mercer continued their push, Aliah Kitchens and Ally Fordham did it again and scored in the 69^th and 86^thminute respectfully. MU played just as hard as they always do, and the referees surely let them play today. Just ask senior Kylie Buchanan if today's match got scrappy. Mercer will look to use this energy and put it towards their upcoming SoCon postseason matchup on Friday.

Notables:

Jordyn Ebert recorded 5 saves.
The Bears' Seniors earned the Grit Chain on the day.
Pace Stephenson, Ally Fordham, and Aliah Kitchens scored in the match.
Mercer moves to 6-5-5 overall, 3-2-4 in the SoCon.

Up Next:
The Bears will play Friday the 29^th at 6:30 P.M. when they head to Birmingham, Ala. to play ETSU.

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