Mercer Defeats Utah, 15-10, on Saturday Morning

Saturday, March 27

Macon, Ga.

11:00 AM

Mercer University

3-5

Utah

2-5

UTAH

MER

Photo by: Mark Powell

Mercer Defeats Utah, 15-10, on Saturday Morning

3/27/2021 5:09:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Sean Goldsmith scored six goals.

By: Kraig Doremus

MACON, Ga. – Sean Goldsmith scored six goals to help the Mercer Bears pick up a 15-10 win over the visiting Utah Utes on Saturday morning inside Mercer's Five Star Stadium.

Goldsmith, who made his first appearance of the 2021 season last weekend, has tallied eight goals in two contests. Michael Quinn and Will McCarthy each scored three goals while Cole Leggett scored twice in the win. Parker Junod added one goal for the Bears in the victory. Colin Kelley made 17 saves and passed Josh Tarver for fourth all-time in program history with 152 stops.

Utah had three players with a multi-goal game, including Carson Moyer who led the Utes with three. Jared Andreala and MJ McMahon each found the back of the net twice. Three players – Jordan Hyde, Josh Rose and Jonathan Rose – scored a single goal.

The two squads traded goals for the entirety of the opening quarter with the score knotted at three after 15 minutes. McCarthy, Leggett and Junod each contributed a goal with Junod's goal tying the contest at three.

Goldsmith opened the scoring in the second quarter, netting his third goal of the season with 10:54 until the intermission. Utah's Jonathan Rose answered shortly after the nine-minute mark, but Mercer responded with three unanswered goals.

With 7:03 remaining in the second quarter, Quinn found McCarthy for a goal, and from that point forward, the Bears never relinquished the lead. Quinn assisted Goldsmith's second goal of the day at the 5:36 mark before finding the back of the net himself with under two minutes remaining in the quarter. His first goal of the morning gave the Orange & Black seven for the contest, and Mercer took a 7-4 advantage into the locker room.

Leggett opened the scoring in the third quarter for the home team, but the Utes responded with two goals to cut the Bears' lead to 8-6. A pair of goals by Quinn and one by Goldsmith gave Mercer a five-goal lead, 11-6. The two teams swapped goals to end the frame, and Chad Surman's Bears held a 12-7 lead after 45 minutes.

The Utes opened the fourth quarter with a goal just 18 seconds in. One second later they scored again, pulling within three, 12-9, but Goldsmith took advantage of a man-up opportunity with 12:04 to play to extend Mercer's lead to four goals.

Utah's final goal of the day came with 7:15 remaining in the contest, and Mercer added two scores in the final 2:30 with Goldsmith and McCarthy converting to give the Bears a 15-10 win.

The Bears took a season-high 47 shots and placed 25 attempts on goal. Mercer also picked up a new best for the 2021 campaign 45 groundballs and took care of the ball offensively, committing 16 turnovers, its lowest total of the season.

NOTABLES

Mercer's 25 points (15 goals and 10 assists) are its most in 2021.
The Orange & Black recorded double-digit assists for the first time this season.
Leggett recorded one of the team's 10 assists, his first helper of the 2021 campaign.
The Bears' 15 goals are second only to its 17 in a win over Lenoir-Rhyne.
Mercer committed only 16 turnovers, its lowest total of 2021.
Kelley made 17 saves. He has made at least 10 saves in each of the past six games.
Kelley moved into fourth-place in the Mercer men's lacrosse record books with 152 stops. He passed Josh Tarver (142) in the win.
Kelley has 101 saves this season and sits ninth in the single season saves category. He is 44 saves away from cracking the top-five.
With his six goals today, Goldsmith is now 10 away from the third-highest goal total in Mercer history.
The sophomore has recorded 85 points. He passed Scott Baird (79 points) and Chris Rahill (81 points), moving into fifth-place with 85 points.
The Jamestown, N.C., native needs six points to pass Matt Quinn (90 points) for fourth all-time.
Goldsmith's eight goals in 2021 place him just two scores away from becoming the team's fourth double-digit goal scorer of the year.
McCarthy (16 goals), Quinn (11 goals) and Collin Stewart (11) are the team's top-three scorers.
Ashton Wood grabbed 11 groundballs to bring his season total to 70, which is the sixth-best total in one season in program history.

UP NEXT
The Bears will travel to Air Force on April 3 for a 2 p.m. ET Southern Conference contest.

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