Mercer University
5-9
Queens University of Charlotte
2-11
Mercer Beats Queens on Senior Night
4/22/2023 8:42:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's lacrosse team defeated Queens University, 18-5 in Macon, Georgia on Saturday, April 22. The Bears move to 5-9 and 4-4 in ASUN play and the Royals move to 2-11 on the season and 1-6 in ASUN play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Eleven Bears contributed to the scoring on the afternoon. Senior attackman Karl Klepper led the way for the Bears with four goals of his own. Senior attackman Parker Junod scored three goals and tallied two assists. Senior midfielder Matt O'Connor and Sophomore midfielder Christian Laureano had two goals for the Bears. Â
Senior midfielder Khory Reid, freshmen midfielder Thomas Strong, junior midfielder Taylor Dooley and junior defensemen Ben Lever, senior midfielder Dean Draughn, junior attackman Jack Parolin, and freshmen attach Zach Basisty each scored a goal for the bears.
Parker Junod would score two quick goals within the first two minutes of the game, both goals were assisted from senior midfielder Kyle Cox. Cox added another assist a minute later, this time to Carl Klepper. The bears would continue this run, the next goal would come from Ben Lever off the dish from junior short stick defender Kellen Arthur. Thomas Strong and Christian Laureano would add two unassisted goals for the bears, increasing their lead to 6-0. The Royals would end Mercer's run, making the score 6-1 heading into the second.
Taylor Dooley would find an open Zach Basisty open on the crease to give the bears the 7-1 lead to start the second quarter. Queens would find the back of the net twice before Garrett LeClair would find an open Klepper, who would add another goal for the bears. Parker Junod would complete his hat trick following a goal from a dodge. The score heading into halftime was 9-3, in favor of the bears.
Ashton Wood would win a face-off and find Klepper who was open for a 12-yard stepdown goal. This goal would complete Klepper's hat trick. Matt O'Connor would add another for the bears following Klepper's goal. The Royals answered quickly with a goal of their own. Klepper would score his fourth and final goal of the game off the Junod pass and Laureano would score and unassisted goal. The Royals would find the back of the net one last time in the third to push their total to five.
The fourth quarter belonged to the bears who would score five unanswered goals to close out the game. The first came from Khory Reid off the assist from Carl Klepper. The next goal would be a man-up goal, this time from Taylor Dooley of the assist from Basisty. The third goal was an unassisted goal from Matt O'Connor. The fourth goal came from Jack Parolin off the assist from Junod. The final goal of the day would come from Dean Draughn. The Bears would win the game 18-5 and move to 4-4 in ASUN Conference play.
UP NEXT: The Bears will travel to St. Charles, Missouri to take on Lindenwood in their final regular season game on Saturday, April 29 at 1 P.M EST.
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
