Mercer Wins Big South Tournament Championship

Sunday, May 7

Macon, Ga.

12 PM

Mercer University

17-2, 9-0Big South

Campbell University

12-7, 7-2Big South

Campbell

Mercer

Women's Lacrosse 2023 Big South Champs team picture

Mercer Wins Big South Tournament Championship

5/7/2023 4:55:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Bears earn fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history

MACON, Ga. – Kayla Soltys scored the game-winning goal with less than five minutes to play and Mercer's defense came up with a stand at the end of the game as Mercer women's lacrosse defeated Campbell 11-10 to win the Big South Tournament Championship on Sunday afternoon.

The Bears captured both the Big South regular season and tournament titles this season. Mercer will play in its fifth NCAA Tournament in program history. The NCAA Tournament selection show will air Sunday, May 7 on ESPNU beginning at 9 p.m. ET as the Bears learn their first round opponent.

Shots in the game were close, with Mercer outshooting Campbell 19-15 in shots on goal. Each team had 15 turnovers. Campbell won the draw control battle 14-10, including a 9-2 advantage in the second half to climb back in the game after the Camels trailed by four at halftime.

Big South Offensive Player of the Year, Shannon Urey led all goal scorers with five goals including a hat trick in the first quarter.

Hannah Lind was the only other Mercer player with a multi-goal game as she had two goals on the day. Chloe Schaeffer had one goal and three assists.

Soltys scored the game-winning goal for the Bears and led the team with eight draw controls. Carly Curran and Ainsley Malamala had great games defensively for the Bears as each had three caused turnovers. Kate Vanderlinde made five saves in goal for Mercer.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Urey scored three of Mercer's first four goals all within the first six minutes of the first quarter and Mercer led 4-1 in the early stages of the game.

Campbell scored the next two to make it a 4-3 game. The Bears responded with a 4-0 run, as they took advantage of their man-up opportunities scoring three man-up goals – two from Urey and one from Lind – to extend their lead to 8-3. Campbell scored in the closing seconds of the first half for a halftime score of 8-4 Mercer.

The Camels outscored Mercer 4-1 in the third period with Mercer's lone goal coming from Chloe Schaeffer on a free position shot.

The game would be decided in the fourth quarter with Mercer holding a 9-8 lead going into the final 15 minutes.

Kileigh Casey scored a man-down goal for Mercer less than two minutes in the fourth quarter to make it 10-8 Mercer.

After Campbell made it 10-9, Kayla Soltys got by Campbell's defense and scored what would be the game-winning goal and for the time being made it 11-9 Mercer.

Down 11-10, Campbell had possession in the final minute looking to force overtime, but Mercer's defense stood tall as the Bears won back-to-back Big South Tournament Championships.

NOTABLES

Mercer won back-to-back Big South Tournament Championships and will make its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Kayla Soltys was named Tournament MVP and Soltys, Emma Pizzo, Shannon Urey, and Kate Vanderlinde were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Urey's five goals give her 82 on the season, a career-high and second-most in a season in program history (Hailey Rhatigan, 92 in 2022)
Mercer's 10 draw controls were the fewest it has had in a win this season.
Schaeffer's three assists were a season-high.

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