Bears Use Big Third Quarter To Defeat East Carolina, 15-12

Monday, April 22

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

10-5, 6-0Big South

East Carolina

4-12, 1-5AAC

East Carolina

Mercer

Bears Use Big Third Quarter To Defeat East Carolina, 15-12

4/22/2024 4:35:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Mercer outscored East Carolina 6-0 in third quarter

MACON, Ga. - Mercer outscored East Carolina 6-0 in the third quarter to turn a halftime deficit into a 15-12 nonconference win over the Pirates Monday afternoon from Five Star Stadium.

Shots on goal were 30-22 Mercer and the Bears also had a decisive advantage in draws winning 19 draws to East Carolina's 12. Mercer had just eight turnovers in the game to East Carolina's 12. Six different Mercer players had a caused turnover in the game.

Gabby DiVirgilio had a game high 6-point outing with three goals and three assists. Kayla Soltys led the Bears with four goals and Caroline Glus had three goals. Soltys and Abby Morrison each had a game high seven draw controls.

Kate Vanderlinde and Kayla Casey split time in goal for the Bears with Vandelrinde playing the first half and Casey the second. Each goalie made five saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED
East Carolina jumped out to a 2-0 lead and from there, the two teams went back and forth trading goals as neither team scored consecutive goals the rest of the first half.

Defender Abby Soltys scored just her second goal of the season for Mercer's fourth goal of the game in the second quarter which made it 5-4 game in favor of East Carolina. The Pirates scored a free position goal with 13 seconds before halftime to take an 8-6 lead into intermission.

The third quarter was one of the better quarters the Bears played this season on both ends of the field, outscoring East Carolina 6-0 to take their first lead of the game. Glus scored her third goal of the game less than five minutes into the third quarter to give the Bears a 9-8 lead.

Soltys scored two of the last three goals of the third quarter as Mercer took a 12-8 lead after three quarters. A goal from Abby Vane early in the fourth quarter made it eight unanswered goals for the Bears who took their largest lead of the game at 14-8. Soltys scored her fourth goal of the game to make it 15-9 before the Pirates closed the game with the last three goals.

NOTABLES

Mercer finishes its nonconference portion of the schedule going 4-5 in such games, with three of the losses coming to ACC teams
Mercer has scored 15 or more goals in each of its last five games
Mercer's eight turnovers against East Carolina were its second fewest in a game this season (7 vs Coastal Carolina)
The Bears had a season high nine free position shots; scoring on four of them
Gabby DiVirgilio recorded her 30th assist of the season
Caroline Glus scored three goals and has scored three or more goals in each of her last five games

The Bears are back in action on Wednesday, April 24 with a trip to Wofford in Spartanburg, South Carolina. First draw is at 4 p.m.

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.