Mercer Battles Hard at No. 1 Duke

Saturday, February 13

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Mercer University

1-2

Duke

3-0

Mercer University

Duke University

Photo by: Natalie LeDonne/Duke Athletics

2/13/2021 5:45:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Collin Stewart scored his team-leading sixth goal against the Blue Devils

By: Stephen Waldman

DURHAM, N.C. – The Mercer men's lacrosse team fought hard against top-ranked Duke, outscoring the Blue Devils in the second half of a 17-8 setback at Koskinen Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Seven different Bears scored in the game with Michael Quinn registering a team-high two goals. Collin Stewart and Patrick Marks both finished with two points in the game with a goal and an assist, while Jack McGuire, Will McCarthy, Khory Reid and Michael O'Brien netted a goal. Taylor Dooley also dished out an assist to add his name to the scoresheet.

Ashton Wood put together a solid performance at the faceoff x for the Bears, going Additionally, Colin Kelley played all 60 minutes in the crease for Mercer and came up with a season-high 10 saves, the majority of which were on high-quality scoring chances by Duke.

Mercer's defense pressured the top-ranked Blue Devils into a season-high 21 turnovers, marking just the sixth time in their last 29 outings with at least 20 giveaways dating back to the start of the 2019 season. The Bears also held Duke without a man-up goal for the first time this season as the home team was 0-for-3 with the extra man.

After falling behind 8-1 at the end of the first quarter, the Bears displayed great resiliency and hung with the top-ranked team in the nation for the remaining 45 minutes of the game. Mercer netted the first two goals of the second quarter with tallies from Will McCarthy and Collin Stewart. McCarthy opened the scoring in the second period by breaking down the left side and slotting a shot between the legs of the Blue Devils netminder just over two minutes into the quarter. Stewart threw his name into the mix with an early goal of the year candidate four minutes later when Nick Rockefeller fed the ball behind the cage to Dooley.

Stewart found just enough of a vacancy in front of the crease for Dooley to hit him with the pass. Without hesitation, Stewart not only went behind his own back with the shot, but also around the defender's as he was being pushed to the ground while slipping the ball into the lower left corner for the score.

Collin Stewart with the UNREAL behind-the-back goal! #SCTop10 | #BearDown pic.twitter.com/sDZZjOqEf1
— Mercer Men's Lacrosse (@MercerLacrosse) February 13, 2021

After trailing 13-3 at the break, Mercer looked to one of its long poles to get things started in the second half as O'Brien whipped a shot from just inside the edge of the box 10 seconds into the third period for the goal. Following another Duke tally, Reid beat his man at midfield and charged in down the left flank. He juked another Duke defender before diving across the goal mouth for the gritty goal. McGuire followed that up with another unassisted goal as he dodged around his defender before picking the bottom corner of the cage for the score.

The two sides failed to generate much offense after that as both teams combined for just three goals over an 18:10 stretch before Marks potted a perfectly-placed shot inside the right post with 4:34 remaining in the game. Quinn capped the scoring with his second goal of the game 73 seconds later as the Bears moved the ball around the horn to the Stevensville, Md., native who rifled a shot into the twine from the right point.

Mercer put together a strong second half in which it outshot Duke, 20-13, as well as outscoring the Blue Devils 5-4 over the final 30 minutes.

NOTABLES

Today's game was Mercer's fifth all-time meeting with Duke.
Mercer forced Duke to commit at least 20 turnovers for just the sixth time since the start of the 2019 season.
Quinn posted his second consecutive multi-goal game and the 14th of his career.
Stewart notched his team-leading 10th point, sixth goal and four assists in the game.
The Westminster, Md., native has recorded multiple points in all three games this season.
Marks produced a season-high two points in the game with a goal and an assist.
McCarthy scored a goal for the eighth-straight game.
McGuire netted the fifth goal of his career in six games.
Reid registered his second career goal.
The Marietta, Ga., native has been an efficient scorer this season as both of his shots have found the back of the cage.
O'Brien tallied his fourth career goal and first since March 23, 2019 at VMI.
Dooley dished out his first career assist with the Bears.
Kelley made at least 10 saves in a game for the second time in his career.
The sophomore from Ellicott City, Md., also made 15 stops at Monmouth on March 7 last season.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Saturday as they will faceoff against Jacksonville in a neutral site, non-conference matchup in Savannah, Ga. The opening faceoff is slated for 6 p.m.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's Lacrosse, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerLacrosse (Twitter) and @MercerMensLacrosse (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com