Bears Win Season Opener On The Road

Saturday, February 1

Hampton, Va.

12:00 p.m.

Mercer University

1-0

Hampton

0-1

Mercer

Hampton

2/1/2025 3:31:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Kaylin Flukey, Kaylin.flukey@live.mercer.edu

HAMPTON – The Mercer men's lacrosse team opened the 2025 season with a dominating win over Hampton, defeating the Pirates 23-3.

13 different Bears found the back of the net for Mercer while the defense was on lockdown, holding the Pirates scoreless after the first quarter. Sophomore Dillon Bush and freshman Will Zylstra led the Bears with four goals each. Luke Fox, Jack Sullivan, Ben Jose and Ryan Brooks all recorded two goals a piece. Between the pipes, Rand Paddack and Jack Guido combined for eight saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Mercer secured the first goal of the game when Fox found the back of the net at the 12:05 mark. Shortly after, Sullivan and Jackson Hirschy added goals of their own to put the score to 3-0 at the 9:35 mark. Hampton responded with their first goal of the game until the 4:45 mark when Sullivan tallied his second goal of the game. The Pirates ended the first quarter with another goal, making it a close 4-2 game.
The Bears found their footing in the second quarter scoring 10 goals and leaving Hampton scoreless throughout the entire quarter. Bush scored three of his four goals in the second quarter and Zylstra tallied his first goal as a Bear at the 4:32 mark. Mercer entered the half with 43 shots compared to Hampton's 13.
The Orange & Black were not backing down in the third quarter as Jose and senior captain Quinn Kelley notched their first goals of the day.
The Bears entered the final quarter of the game with an 18 point advantage over the Pirates. Brooks got in on the action in the fourth quarter scoring the lone two goals at the 8:57 and 6:33 mark to finalize 23 points for the Bears in their season opener.

TOP BEARS

Zylstra made an impressive collegiate debut with four goals and an assist
Bush picked up where he left off last season scoring four goals.
Christoper Cappelmann had a stellar game at the X going 13-16 (.8125%) with six ground balls.

NOTABLES

The last time the Bears held an opponent to less than four goals was in 2016 against VMI.
The Bears secure their first win of 2025.

UP NEXT

The Bears will travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to face Marist on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field.

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Fans can help support the Mercer athletics department by making a gift to the Mercer Athletic Foundation. To find out more information about the Mercer Athletic Foundation, visit S upportMAF.com or email maf@mercer.edu.