Bowing Out

Thursday, November 18

Winston-Salem, NC

6 PM

Mercer University

10-8-1, 4-1-1

Wake Forest

12-6-1, 4-3-1

Mercer

Wake Forest

11/18/2021 9:01:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Mercer falls, 2-1, to Wake Forest in NCAA opener

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Mercer men's soccer team could not answer two Wake Forest goals in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament following an early lead.

Mercer (10-8-1, 4-1-1 SoCon) was the first to find the back of the net when Gaither flew the ball from well beyond the 18-yard box past Wake Forest's Trace Alphin for the early lead following an assist from Nick Wanzer in the 11^th minute. Eight minutes later, Kyle Holcomb got the Demon Deacons (12-6-1, 4-3-1 ACC) on the scoreboard when he snuck the ball past Trevor McMullen.

20 minutes into the second stanza, Holcomb secured a brace as he helped the Demon Deacons take a lead they would not relinquish following assists from Prince Amponsah and Oscar Sears.

Even when down, Mercer was not out of it, as they were getting shots toward Alphin until the waning minutes of the contest.

Gaither, Michael Ille and Trevor Martineau all registered two shots apiece for the Mercer attack – both Gaither and Ille had both of theirs go on goal. McMullen stopped five shots from the Demon Deacons' attack in the 90 minutes.

The loss ends the Bears' season. It was the fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament as a member of the SoCon, and sixth overall.

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.