Bears Fall to Knights in Season Finale

Saturday, May 1

Louisville, Ky.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

5-8, 2-4SoCon

Bellarmine

5-10, 2-4SoCon

MER

Bellarmine

5/1/2021 3:56:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Mercer suffered an 11-8 defeat.

By: Kraig Doremus

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Mercer men's lacrosse team's season came to end on Saturday afternoon by virtue of an 11-8 loss to the Bellarmine Knights.

Scoring was at a premium in the first quarter as the two squads combined for just three goals. The Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Bears, but the Orange & Black got on the board when Nick Rockefeller scored his seventh goal of the season with 30 seconds left in the quarter.

The Bears (5-8, 2-4 SoCon) had quality looks in the second period, taking eight shots and placing all but one on target. Despite solid opportunities, Mercer only managed a pair of goals – one by Taylor Dooley and the second of the game from Rockefeller. Bellarmine started the period with a shot that clanged off the post, and moments later, Colin Kelley made a stop before sending the Bears on the attack. Dooley tied the game 1:55 into the period, and before the nine-minute mark, Rockefeller put the Orange & Black on top, 3-2.

The Knights (5-10, 2-4 SoCon) refused to allow the Bears to gain any momentum and used two unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead. Turnovers doomed Mercer throughout the game, but three in the final three minutes of the second quarter hurt the Bers as Bellarmine held a 4-3 advantage after 30 minutes.

Michael Quinn's first goal of the afternoon and 16^th of the 2021 campaign came with 8:30 left in the third period and broke a nearly 16-minute dry spell for the Orange & Black. Quinn pulled the Bears within a goal, 6-5, as did Sean Goldsmith, who scored with 2:49 to play in the quarter off a pass from Daniel Shumake. Solid defense by Mercer kept Bellarmine off the scoreboard for the rest of the third, and with 15 minutes to play, Mercer trailed by a single goal, 6-5.

The Bears tied the game on two occasions in the final quarter with Rockefeller doing the honors the first time. The senior from Acworth, Ga., knotted the contest at six with 1:25 into the fourth as he recorded a hat trick. 72 seconds later, Bellarmine's Kyle Playsted put the Knights back on top, but Dooley's second goal of the day tied the game at seven with 10:24 remaining.

Mercer's offense went cold after Dooley found the back net. The Bears managed only one additional goal in the period while surrendering four goals to the Knights, all with less than six minutes to play. Three goals in 3:44 put Bellarmine ahead, 10-7, before Dooley became the second Bear to record a hat trick. Dooley pulled the Bears to within two, but the Orange & Black failed to score again, while Bellarmine added its final goal with just ticks of the clock left on the way to an 11-8 victory in the season finale.

Air Force's win and the Bears' loss dropped Mercer out of contention for the fourth seed in the Southern Conference Tournament. Mercer concludes 2021 with a 5-8 record and 2-4 mark in SoCon games.

NOTABLES

Dooley scored three goals for the third consecutive contest and ended the season with 13 goals in the Bears' final four contests.
Rockefeller registered his first hat trick in the final game of the 2021 campaign.
Despite scoring only once, Goldsmith placed seven-of-nine (.778) shots on target, his best percentage of the season.
Kelley made 10 saves in the loss. He made at least 10 stops in all but two of his appearances in 2021.
Kelley finished his sophomore season with 148 saves. His 148 stops rank fifth among season-single saves totals in Mercer men's lacrosse history.
The Ellicott City, Md., native surpassed 200 career saves in the defeat. He has stopped 202 shots in two seasons and now sits fourth in program history.
Shumake led the team with three helpers in the loss.
Will McCarthy led the team with 19 goals in 2021.
Goldsmith and Shumake each had 10 assists.
Wood picked up a season-high 16 ground balls. His 120 pick-ups over the course of the 2021 season are the most in a single season in program history.
Ashton Wood has grabbed 293 ground balls for his career.
On the X, Wood was nearly automatic, winning 20-of-22 face-offs. The Saint Augustine, Fla., native won 20 face-offs on two occasions during his junior campaign and was successful 193 times in 2021. He has won over 500 face-offs in three seasons, recording 503 wins.

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