Second Half Outburst Leads Bears Past Air Force

Saturday, September 28

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

4-2-4, 0-0-0

Air Force

0-7-1, 0-0-0

Air Force

Mercer

Second Half Outburst Leads Bears Past Air Force

9/28/2024 9:35:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

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

MACON – Mercer scored three times in the second half, including two goals and an assist from Segun Afolabi, to defeat Air Force 3-0 on Saturday night. The Bears move to 3-0 at Betts Stadium this season.

It was a tale of two halves for the Bears, as following a scoreless first 45, the Bears scored three goals in the final 30 minutes of the match for the win.

Goalkeeper Trevor McMullen made three saves in the first 20 minutes of the contest to keep the Falcons off the board. The first shot on goal for Mercer came in the 30^th minute, as Grant Hampton fired a shot from outside the top of the box that was saved by the Air Force goalkeeper. Mercer nearly got in the scoring column in the 42^nd minute, but a shot from Carlos Santamaria glanced off of the crossbar.

The first goal of the match came in the 51^st minute, as Afolabi received a cross in the box from Kadeem Agard and fired a shot off of a Falcons defender that found the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

From there, it was an offensive barrage by the Bears, as Mercer recorded seven more shots in the final 29 minutes.

The second Mercer goal came from Barzee Blama in the 80^th minute, his third of the season. Nick Wanzer launched a long throw in into the box that was headed by Afolabi in front of the goal, where Blama would find the bottom right corner of the goal with a header of his own.

A mere four and half minutes later, Afolabi scored his fifth points of the night with another goal. Natnael McDonald delivered a free kick into the box that was headed right to Afolabi by an Air Force defender. Afolabi collected the ball and ripped a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal to extend the Mercer lead to three.

For the match, Mercer held a 13-12 advantage in shots and a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal. Trevor McMullen made five saves on the night.

The Bears move to 4-2-4 on the season with the win.

SCORING SUMMARY

51' MERCER GOAL: Segun Afolabi; ASSIST: Kadeem Agard
80' MERCER GOAL: Barzee Blama; ASSIST: Segun Afolabi, Nick Wanzer
85' MERCER GOAL: Segun Afolabi; ASSIST: None

TOP BEARS

+ Trevor McMullen recorded his nation-leading seventh clean sheet of the season and lowered his season goals against average to 0.80
+ Segun Afolabi had his biggest night as a Bear, scoring twice and adding an assist to power the Bears to the win
+ Barzee Blama added a goal for the Bears and put up a team-high six shots, including three on goal

UP NEXT
Mercer opens SoCon play next Saturday, hosting UNCG at Betts Stadium. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.