Mercer Cruises Past Mississippi Valley State

Friday, September 3

Macon, Ga.

8:00 PM

Mercer University

2-2-0, 0-0-0

Mississippi Valley State

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Mississippi Val.

Mercer

Photo by: Mark Powell

9/4/2021 12:51:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

The Bears improved to 2-2 overall with a 10-0 win.

By: Kraig Doremus

MACON, Ga. – The trio of Mackenzie Gassie, Ally Fordham and Lana Whitfield accounted for seven of Mercer's 10 goals as the Bears cruised past the Mississippi Valley State Deviletts in Betts Stadium on Friday night.

After a lengthy delay, the match started at 8:49 p.m. under the night sky, and Mercer quickly jumped in front just 12 minutes into the contest. Fordham missed a penalty kick attempt, but she scored off the rebound to put the Orange & Black in front, and less than 10 minutes later the Bears added to their lead.

Ciara Whitely scored the second goal of the evening in the 17^th minute, which was set up by a pass from Whitfield. Whitely's goal proved to be the spark Mercer needed as it added goals in a hurry.

After nearly scoring her first collegiate goal last Sunday against North Florida, Whitfield broke into the scoring column with a brace on Friday evening. Her first goal of the victory came off a pass from fellow freshman Chandler Lewis-Jenkins in the 21^st minute. With a 3-0 lead, the Bears added their fourth goal only 47 seconds later, which Whitfield also played a role in. She found Gassie who fired the ball into the back of the net from four yards out in the left side of the box for her first of three goals.

Gassie gave Mercer a four-goal advantage, and in the 25^th minute, Keelin Pray nearly made it a 5-0 game, firing a missile towards the upper 90, but the ball narrowly curled away and ricocheted off the right post. 23 seconds later, however, Fordham made up for the unlucky miss with a goal. Gassie received credit from the assist, as she played the ball to the El Cajon, Calif., native who scored from the edge of the box near the penalty spot.

The Bears scored twice more before the intermission – once in the 27^th minute – and for the seventh time in the contest in the 40^th minute. Gassie contributed both the sixth and seventh goals of the victory, and her goal in the 40^th minute, a chip shot that landed inside the right post, completed her first career hat trick.

With a commanding lead at the half, Mercer used the second half to work on various shapes and styles of play in preparation for the remainder of a difficult non-conference schedule that continues on the road at UAB on Sunday afternoon.

The Bears did manage three goals in the final period with Pray opening the scoring. The freshman midfielder from Dunwoody, Ga., converted for the first time in her career with 24 minutes remaining thanks to the assist from Nicole Icen.

Icen added a second assist to her tally when Aliah Kitchens became the sixth different Bear to score, doing so in the 82^nd minute. With less than a minute remaining, Whitfield completed the brace when she got behind the Devilettes' defense and took a pass from Payton Schurr, dribbled into the box and scored. Mercer left Betts Stadium with a convincing 10-0 win.

Mercer managed an impressive 29 shots in the win and put 20 on target while holding the Devilettes to four attempts. Graduate student Jordyn Ebert made two saves but had a calm night in the cage as she recorded her second clean sheet of the 2021 season. Fordham paced the Bears with eight shots, while Pray and Gassie both had four attempts.

"We needed a match like tonight to get some goals and confidence," stated head coach Tony Economopoulos. "We have been playing well the past few matches, but we weren't able to find the back of the net. Tonight we did that, and we challenged the team to be mentally focused, to stay engaged and to work on the speed of play. I'm happy with the performance. I feel good about where our team is compared to [this time] last year. We want to have a good possession rate on Sunday and put our chances away in the final third."

NOTABLES

The Bears played in front of a rowdy home crowd that featured several alumni in attendance.
Gassie recorded her first career hat trick.
In addition to Gassie, Whitfield and Fordham both scored multiple times.
Mercer attempted a season-high 29 shots and placed 20 on target.
The 20 shots on goal are also a season-high.
Whitfield and Pray scored their first collegiate goals.
Each player who scored did so for the first time in the fall of 2021.
Fordham put six of her eight attempts on goal.
Through four matches, Mercer has placed 33-of-60 (.550) shots on target
Icen, Whitfield and Lewis-Jenkins each had a pair of assists.
Ebert was challenged just twice and easily stopped both shots. The Suwanee, Ga., native has made 14 saves in the fall of 2021.
Economopoulos, who recently became the first coach to reach 100 wins in Mercer women's soccer program history, recorded his 101^st career win as the Bears' leader.
Mercer evened its record at 2-2 overall.

UP NEXT
Mercer will take on UAB at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday in Birmingham. Fans can watch the game on C-USA TV.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Women's Soccer, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerWSoccer (Twitter), /MercerWSoccer (Facebook) and @MercerWSoccer (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com