Falling Short to South Carolina

Tuesday, September 21

Columbia, S.C.

7:00 PM

Mercer University

3-4-0, 1-0-0

South Carolina

2-5-0, 0-1-0

Mercer

South Carolina

9/21/2021 8:50:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Mercer falls to Gamecocks in Tuesday tilt

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Mercer men's soccer team fell to South Carolina, 2-1, in a road tilt on Tuesday night at the Gamecocks' Eugene E. Stone III Stadium.

A crucial save off a set piece in the waning seconds was the unfortunate difference between a Mercer defeat and scoring the equalizer to send the match to extra time.

Both teams opened the match with chances on attack, but with neither team experiencing any luck. South Carolina (2-5) broke the scoreless deadlock when Logan Frost slipped one past the MU keeper, Trevor McMullen, in the 24^th minute of the contest. Mercer (3-4) saw their deficit doubled when the Gamecocks' Jared Gulden found the back of the net just 12 minutes later in the 36^th.

Michael Ille paced the Mercer attack with the lone score – coming off of two shots, both of which were on target. Dylan Gaither led the Bears with a trio of shots, one of which was on net.

The Gamecock backline thwarted numerous second half chances for the Mercer attack while the Bears were looking to get on the scoreboard, until a miscue by the hosts resulted in Agard finding Ille inside the 18-yard box to halve the deficit with 15 minutes to go.

In an effort to equalize late in the match, South Carolina's keeper, Ryan Bilichuck, held strong to not concede any more to the Bears.

McMullen, the SoCon defensive player of the week, stopped two Gamecock shots while in goal for the Bears despite the defeat throughout the 90 minutes in net.

Mercer will stay on the road for their first away SoCon contest when they pay a visit ETSU this coming Saturday. Kickoff from Johnson City, Tennessee is slated for 7 p.m. from Summers-Taylor Stadium.