Mercer University
4-8
Cleveland State University
4-5
Bears Fall to Cleveland State at Home
4/8/2023 5:00:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's lacrosse team fell to Cleveland State 8-11 in Macon, Georgia on Saturday, April 8. The Bears move to 4-8 and 3-3 in ASUN play and the Vikings move to 4-5 on the season and 2-3 in ASUN play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Six Bears contributed to the scoring on the afternoon. Senior attackman Carl Klepper led the way for the Bears with three goals of his own. Freshmen attackmen Michael Frederick, senior attackman Parker Junod, freshmen midfielder Thomas Strong, senior midfielder Matt O'Connor and graduate student Ashton Wood each added a goal for the Bears.
Cleveland State would score the only goal in the first quarter. The Vikings would add two more goals until Thomas Strong would open scoring for the Bears off the assist from Taylor Dooley. The Bears would score again, this time from Matt O'Connor off a dodge from the top of the restraining line. The Vikings would score one more before the half making the score 4-2 heading into halftime.Â
The Bears would score first in the second half. Parker Junod would start the scoring off for the Bears in the third quarter with a Taylor Dooley assist. One minute later, the Vikings would answer with two goals of their own. Carl Klepper would bring the Vikings lead to three goals off a Dean Draughn assist. The Vikings would score again to increase their lead back to four. Klepper would score his second of the afternoon after Kyle Cox found him cutting in front of the crease. Klepper would find the back of the net one last time and complete his hat trick off the assist from freshman Jack Sullivan. The score heading into the fourth was 8-6 in favor of the Vikings.
The Vikings would start off scoring in the fourth quarter with a goal 14 minutes into the final quarter of play. Ashton Wood would win a face-off and move the ball forward to Garrett LeClaire. Michael Frederick would score the final goal for the Bears off the assist from Cox. The Vikings would score two more goals before the final whistle making the final score 8-11 in favor of the Vikings.Â
UP NEXT:Â The Bears will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah to take on the University of Utah on Saturday, April 15.Â
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