Mercer Falls 18-17 In Overtime To Furman

Wednesday, April 23

Macon, Ga.

4 p.m.

Mercer University

9-7, 6-1

Furman

12-3, 6-1

Furman

Mercer

4/23/2025 8:22:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

First conference loss of season for Bears

MACON, Ga. - Sofia D'Angelo tied her career high with five goals, but the Mercer (9-7, 6-1) women's lacrosse team fell 18-17 in overtime to Furman Wednesday afternoon from Five Star Stadium.

It was the first regular season conference loss for the Bears since the 2022 season, snapping a 24-game unbeaten streak in Big South play.

Furman's standout freshman Lily Toole scored the game-winning goal with 1:21 remaining in overtime to get the Paladins (12-3, 6-1).

It was a back-and-forth game in which the largest lead of the game was three goals. Mercer outshot Furman 41-34 and each team had three players record a hat trick. After a tough day in the circle last time out against Winthrop, the Bears were better as they won the draw control battle 22-17. Freshman Ayla Galloway led all players with 11 draw controls.

In addition to D'Angelo's five goals, Ansley Walters scored a career high four goals and Sami Lowinger had three goals for Mercer.

Defensively, Abby Soltys led Mercer with three caused turnovers to go with five ground balls and two draw controls. Walters and Abbi Rupnow also had two caused turnovers each.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Furman led 2-1 midway through the first quarter. Then, Mercer scored four unanswered goals - all scored by a different player - to take a 5-2 lead, before Furman scored in the final seconds of the first quarter as Mercer took a 5-3 lead into the second quarter.

After Furman tied the game at five, Walters responded with her first of the game to put Mercer back in front. Furman was able to slow Mercer down a bit offensively in the second quarter as the Paladins held Mercer to just two second quarter goals and took an 8-7 lead into halftime.

Furman scored three of the first four goals of the second half to take its largest lead of the game at 11-8. Mercer responded with a 5-0 scoring run in which Walters and D'Angelo combined to score four of the five goals for the Bears who took a 13-11 lead.

After a goal from Lowinger made it 14-12, Mercer, Furman would go on to score four unanswered goals to take a 16-14 lead with just under 12 minutes to go in the game. Walters scored the final goal of regulation with 4:17 to play which tied the game at 17. After Mercer hit a couple of posts in overtime, Furman's Lily Toole capitalized on her opportunity by scoring the game-winning goal in overtime, for her fifth goal of the game.

NOTABLES

The loss was Mercer's first Big South loss since the 2022 season, snapping a 24-game unbeaten streak in conference games.
Furman entered the game ranked 16th in the country in draw control percentage at 58.0 percent. Mercer won the draw control battle, 22-17.
Sofia D'Angelo tied her career high with five goals.
Ansley Walters had a career high four goals.
Mercer's 41 shots were tied for its third most shots in a game this season.
Mercer's 22 draw controls were a season high.
Abby Soltys tied her season high with five ground balls and had at least three caused turnovers for her fourth game of the season.
Sandy Salit had a season high three assists.
Sami Lowinger scored a hat trick for a second straight game.

UP NEXT
Mercer's concludes its regular season on Saturday, April 26 when the Bears travel to Farmville, Virginia to play Longwood. First draw is set for noon.

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.