Bears Draw With Kansas City In Back-And-Forth Affair

Friday, September 13

Kansas City, Mo.

8:30 p.m.

Mercer University

3-1-3, 0-0-0

Kansas City

3-2-2, 0-0-0

Mercer

Kansas City

Photo by: Taylor Erickson

Bears Draw With Kansas City In Back-And-Forth Affair

9/13/2024 11:26:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Mercer scored a season-high three goals against Kansas City on Friday night but conceded an equalizing goal in the 89^th minute to finish in a draw.

The match got off to an explosive start, as Mercer's Kadeem Agard gathered a cross from Tommy Redd and converted his first goal of the season a mere 30 seconds into the contest. The score marks the earliest goal of the season for the Bears.

In what proved to be the case for the duration of the night, Kansas City answered back in the 22^nd minute, as Luke Hoelting evened the match for the Roos. The goal was the first conceded by Mercer since the season opener against UCF, snapping the Bears' streak of 511 minutes of play without allowing a goal.

Neither side was able to take an advantage into the break, as the score stayed knotted at one after 45 minutes.

Much like the start of the match, Mercer had a scoring chance early in the second half, but Nick Wanzer's header off of a corner kick was saved by Kansas City keeper Brandon McGaugh. Three minutes later, Kansas City would take their first lead of the night when a cross found Elie Kisoka in front of the net for the goal.

The lead would not last long, however. Less than a minute after Kansas City's goal, Mercer's Ehi Aiumuwu took the ball on a breakaway and dribbled his way down into the box. Aiumuwu beat the keeper and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner for his first goal of the season, leveling the match at two in the 52^nd minute.

The score would remain even for the next 30 minutes with both sides unable to grab an advantage. However, in the 82^nd minute, the Bears saw a scoring chance. Natnael McDonald delivered a perfect cross into the box, and Barzee Blama was able to bury it into the back of the net to give the Bears a 3-2 lead.

Unfortunately for the Bears, the night would end in heartbreak, as Kansas City's Brevyn Cole came through with the equalizer in the 89^th minute to end the match in a 3-3 draw.

For the game, the Roos outshot the Bears 14-8 and also held the advantage in shots on goal at 9-5. Goalkeeper Trevor McMullen made six saves for Mercer.

The Bears move to 3-1-3 on the season with the draw.

SCORING SUMMARY

1' MERCER GOAL: Kadeem Agard; ASSIST: Tommy Redd
27' KANSAS CITY GOAL: Luke Hoelting; ASSIST: None
51' KANSAS CITY GOAL: Elie Kisoka; ASSIST: Sora Shibata, Jesper Van Halderen
52' MERCER GOAL: Ehi Aimiuwu; ASSIST: None
83' MERCER GOAL: Barzee Blama; ASSIST: Natnael McDonald
89' KANSAS CITY GOAL: Brevyn Cole; ASSIST: Fernando Somolinos Bravo, Elie Kisoka

TOP BEARS

+ Kadeem Agard, Ehi Aimiuwu and Barzee Blama all scored goals in what was Mercer's highest scoring output of the season. Agard and Aiumiuwu each scored their first of the season, while Blama scored his second
+ Tommy Redd played all 90 minutes for Mercer and recorded his first assist of the year, a fantastic cross that found Kadeem Agard in the first minute
+ Natnael McDonald played 90 minutes for the sixth consecutive match and also scored his first point of the year, assisting on Blama's 83^rd minute goal

UP NEXT
Mercer treks to North Carolina on Tuesday to battle the Davidson Wildcats. Kick off is set for 6:30 p.m.