Bears Fall To Furman In SoCon Tournament

Friday, November 8

Greensboro, N.C.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

6-5-7, 1-2-2

Furman

8-3-4, 2-1-2

Mercer

Furman

11/9/2024 7:55:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Donovan Schultz, Donovan.schultz@live.mercer.edu

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Mercer men's soccer team fell to Furman in the SoCon Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night by a score of 2-0.

Mercer dominated possession in the first 20 minutes of the match and put up three shots in the early going. However, Furman was able to score the first goal of the night in the 20^th minute to take an early lead.

The Bears saw a couple of chances following the Paladins' goal but were not able to find the back of the net. In the 38^th minute, Furman extended the lead and were able to take the 2-0 lead into the halftime period.

Coming out of the break, Mercer created a couple of scoring chances in the opening minutes of the second half. Segun Afolabi put a header on target that was knocked over the bar by the Furman keeper to earn a Mercer corner kick. On the ensuing corner, Fernando Arteaga found Sekou Agard on the back post, but his shot went just wide.

Furman nearly added onto the lead in the 57^th minute, but Bears' keeper Trevor McMullen came up with two big saves to hold the Paladins at bay.

The Bears threatened on the attack in the 74^th minute and earned two corner kicks, but they were unable to come up with a goal. In the 84^th minute, Mercer threatened again, as a shot from Natnael McDonald resulted in a corner kick. However, the Bears could not break through.

Nick Wanzer put a shot on target in the 87^th minute, but it was saved by the Furman keeper. That would prove to be the final scoring chance for the Bears, as the 2-0 score would be the final.

The Bears finish the season with a 6-5-7 record. The Bears' senior class, consisting of Trevor McMullen, Sekou Agard, Woodi Pondeca, Kadeem Agard, Chad Eldridge, Grant Hampton, Natnael McDonald, Segun Afolabi, Carlos Santamaria, Dalton Reyna and Nick Wanzer, departs after helping the Bears win two SoCon Tournament titles and make two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

SCORING SUMMARY

20' FURMAN GOAL; Wilfer Bustamante ASSIST: Christian Kraus, Lloyd Wamu Snell
38' FURMAN GOAL; Lloyd Wamu Snell ASSIST: Luke Hutzell