Mercer Drops Season Opener, 11-8 To South Florida

Tuesday, February 11

Macon, Ga.

2:30 p.m.

Mercer University

0-1, 0-0Big South

South Florida

2-0, 0-0AAC

USF

Mercer

Mercer Drops Season Opener, 11-8 To South Florida

2/11/2025 5:42:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Mercer outshot USF 39-28

MACON, Ga. - The Mercer women's lacrosse team couldn't get enough shots past South Florida's goalie who had an excellent game in Mercer's season opening 11-8 loss at home to USF on Tuesday from Five Star Stadium.

Both starting goalies for each team played well, as both offenses got off to slow starts with just one goal scored in the first quarter.

Mercer outshot the Bulls 39-28 with a 25-19 shots on goal advantage. However, the Bears scored on just eight of their 25 shots on goal as USF's goalie, Paige Pagano made 17 saves for a save percentage of 68.0 percent.

Draw controls were almost even as USF won 12 to Mercer's 11. USF had 19 turnovers to Mercer's 15.

Three Mercer players finished with two goals in Abby Morrison, Sami Lowinger, and Ansley Walters. Walters led Mercer with five shots on goal and also led the team with six draw controls.

On defense, Abby Soltys and Fiona Tanis each led the way with two caused turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
USF scored just over one minute into the game. However, that was not a sign of an upcoming high-scoring contest as both teams were solid defensively and in goal for most of the day. Neither team found the back of the net for the rest of the 14 minutes of the first quarter as USF maintained a 1-0 lead.

The Bulls scored twice in the opening four minutes of the second quarter to take a 3-0 lead. The Bears would claw their way back starting with Sami Lowinger scoring the first goal of the season. Kaileigh Wallace and Abby Vane scored less than one minute apart and suddenly Mercer tied the game at three. USF scored with three minutes to go before halftime and took a 4-3 lead into the break.

Walters scored her first goal of the season less than two minutes into the second half to tie the game at four. However, Mercer's offense would struggle to find another goal for the rest of the quarter and USF scored three goals to take a 7-4 lead into the final quarter.

Walters scored her second goal of the game followed by a goal from Morrison to make it an 8-6 lead for USF. However, the Bulls would score the next three goals to take an 11-6 lead with just under five minutes to play. Two quick goals in less than one minute from Morrison and Lowinger cut the deficit to 11-8 with more than three minutes remaining, but USF was able to kill the clock to earn the win.

NOTABLES

Mercer outshot USF, 39-28 including a 25-19 shots on goal edge
Kayla Casey earned her second career start in goal for the Bears. She turned in a solid performance facing 25 shots and making eight saves for a 50.0 percent save percentage
Both teams had little to no success from the eight-meter as USF was just 1-of-4 and Mercer 0-for-9.
USF had 19 turnovers to 15 for the Bears
Sami Lowinger scored the first goal of the season for Mercer

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.