Tough Fourth Quarter The Difference In Mercer's 15-10 Loss At USF

Saturday, February 21

Tampa, Fla.

Noon

Mercer University

0-3

USF

3-1

MERCER

South Fla

Tough Fourth Quarter The Difference In Mercer's 15-10 Loss At USF

2/21/2026 9:37:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Caroline Glus led Mercer with three goals

TAMPA, Fla. - In a one goal game entering the fourth quarter, Mercer was outscored 4-0 in the quarter in a 15-10 loss at USF Saturday afternoon from Corbett Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Mercer led 8-6 at halftime, but USF outscored the Bears, 9-2 in the second half to pick up the win.

USF outshot Mercer 33-22, including a 23-16 shots on goal edge. Both teams turned the ball over a lot throughout the game as USF had 22 turnovers and Mercer had 21. USF gained an advantage in the game in two areas, draw controls and clears. The Bulls won 18-of-26 draws and were much more successful on clears than the Bears. USF went 16-of-18 on clears while the Bears went just 17-for-25 on its clears.

Caroline Glus led Mercer offensively with three goals. She has scored three goals in all three of Mercer's games to start the season. After finishing second on the team in points with 63 a season ago, Sofia D'Angelo played in her first game of the season and finished with two goals and one assist. Ansley Walters had four caused turnovers for the Bears who as a team finished with 10 caused turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter saw a total of nine goals scored between the two teams, with neither team leading by more than two goals. After USF scored the first two goals of the game, Mercer responded with two goals of its own as Abbi Rupnow scored her first goal of the season, followed by a goal from Abby Vane to tie the game at two.

Kaileigh Wallace and Glus scored back-to-back goals to give the Bears their first lead of the game at 4-3. USF would score the final two goals of the quarter to take a 5-4 lead.

The second quarter was won by the Bears convincingly. Walters and Glus scored two minutes apart in the middle of the quarter to put the Bears back in front, 6-5. Maldonado found D'Angelo on a quick transition opportunity and D'Angelo scored her first goal of the season to make it a 7-5 lead for the Bears. Glus scored her hat trick with 23 seconds to go on the half. However, USF's Sofia Chepenick scored on the man-up with one second to play to cut into the Bulls' deficit as Mercer led 8-6 at halftime.

USF scored four unanswered goals in the first eight minutes of the third quarter to take a 10-8 lead. A few minutes later, Wallace and D'Angelo each scored their second goal of the game to tie the game at 10. USF scored with just under two minutes to play in the quarter to take an 11-10 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Bears struggled to execute on both ends of the field in the fourth quarter as USF outscored the Bears, 4-0 in the final 15 minutes to win by the final score of 15-10.

NOTABLES

Mercer outscored USF, 4-1 in the second quarter.
Caroline Glus scored a hat trick for the third straight game.
Both teams committed a lot of turnovers as USF had 22 turnovers and Mercer 21 turnovers.
Ansley Walters had a season high four caused turnovers.
Mackenzie Ward made eight saves for the Bears.
Kaileigh Wallace and Sofia D'Angelo each finished with two goals and scored their first goal of the season.

UP NEXT
Mercer continues its 5-game road trip on Wednesday as the Bears will make the short trip up to Kennesaw, Georgia to play Kennesaw State on Feb. 25. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start.

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.