Bears Fall to Bulldogs in Semifinals

Sunday, October 31

Birmingham, Ala.

1:00 PM

Mercer University

7-6-5, 3-2-4

Samford (Southern Conference Semifinals)

14-3-2, 9-0-0

Mercer

Samford

10/31/2021 5:58:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

This Match Concludes the ‘21 season

Birmingham, Ala. – Mercer controlled the possession and dominated the first half of gameplay, but the Samford Bulldogs converted a last-ditch effort goal in the 89^th minute to defeat the Bears, 1-0.

SAMFORD MATCH INFO
Date & Time: Friday, October 31, 2021 | 1 p.m. CT
Teams: Samford Bulldogs vs Mercer Bears
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Shauna Yelton Field
Twitter Updates: @MercerWSoccer

Mercer and Samford fought a brutal fight with a yellow card being handed out to the Bulldogs. In playing hard, Mercer's efforts created consistent 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 entered this game confident and I believed in this team." "We did everything we could to prepare for this match, all that was left was for the girls to put everything they've been training for together on the field. We executed very well today, and we battled with a championship team all the way down to the wire. I appreciate every player on this team and all the work they have put in to get to this moment. Every year I have an amazing group of seniors and they led this team to a great game today and a great overall season." "We were a very skilled ranked #5 team and to me they are still #1." "It's not the outcome we wished for, but it was an incredible back and forth match for 90 minutes."

Bears generated a multitude of excellent opportunities quickly with headers by Payton Schurr. Mercer came close to taking the lead as the team was led by Kylie Buchanan and Ciara Whitely who had created good attempts on goal, but couldn't find the go-ahead shot. 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 the air to win possession. Ally Fordham, Lana Whitfield, Aliah Kitchens, Kendall Cook, and Keelin Pray all took turns making it difficult for Kylie Gazza and the 'Dogs. With great clearances by Jamie Hlebec, Jordan Lynn, Chandler Lewis-Jenkins, Elizabeth Hargis, and Lucy Brand on the defensive end, the Bears were able to push forward when they needed to. As the Bears' midfield was led by Pace Stephenson and Payton Schurr distribution for the Bears was sufficient enough to hold a 0-0 tie into the half. With educated subs being made in the second half and excellent performances by Amaya Evans and Cami Brown the Bears challenged Morgan McAslan every chance they could. The Bears came out and played strong and played smart, they were just unable to find the final finish needed to come out with a victory on the day.

Samford, when they could get by the Bears' strong 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. Ebert, as the final defender, made it quite difficult for any Samford attack. Substitutions for Samford came early as the Bears wore them out. Nevertheless, with teams trading attacks and as the clock was running low it was Zoe Perrin who was able to secure the victory for the Bulldogs.

Notables:

Buchanan after being fouled 6 times, showed true grit on the pitch.
Buchanan, Cook, and Fordham combined for three shots.
The Bears' defense shutout the Bulldogs when they needed to.
Another impressive season in the books.
Mercer 's physicality is not to be tested.

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For complete coverage of Mercer Men's Soccer, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerWSoccer (Twitter), MercerWSoccer (Instagram) and /MercerWSoccer (Facebook) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com