#2 Mercer Defeats #3 Furman, Advances to Title Match
Mercer scored early and often in their first-ever Big South tournament game on the way to a 22-8 dispatching of Furman on Friday evening at High Point University. The Bears' offense was paced by
Chloe Schaeffer, who scored six and
Hailey Rhatigan with five.
"Way to go Bears! Great team win over a very talented and hard-working Furman team" said Head Coach
Samantha Eustace. "Shoutout to
Chloe Schaeffer and
Kayla Soltys on recording 100 career points and 100 draws, respectively. We are looking forward to playing in the Big South Championship on Sunday!"
The Bears (13-4, 8-1) only needed just 37 seconds to make their mark, as Rhatigan struck for the score and a four-goal run. In a span of 1:01, Mercer pushed the lead to 4-0 with scores from
Kileigh Casey and a pair by
Chloe Schaeffer. Furman converted a free position attempt to get on the board, down 4-1.
Lyndsey Lewis then set up
Hannah Lind for a score at the 7:21 mark to give Mercer the four-goal lead back. Two Paladin goals sandwiched a pair of Schaeffer strikes to make it 7-3 game with :57 to go in the opening frame. On Mercer's ensuing possession,
Maddi Koury closed the first's scoring with from a Rhatigan pass for the 8-3 lead.
Mercer picked up where they left off by tallying all five scored – and unassisted - in the second. Not even a minute had passed when Rhatigan netted her second to bring the lead to 6 at 9-3.
Shannon Urey got onto the scoresheet at the 9:22 mark to make it a 10-3 affair. Rhatigan completed a hat trick when she found the back of the net to give Mercer an eight-goal lead. Schaeffer obtained her fifth with less than four minutes in the half and Urey followed with the last of the half, making the score 13-3 and leaving 1:54 on the clock.
Furman was the first to find the back of the net in the third and it proved to be their final time scoring. The Bears responded with nine goals over the 22:31 of the game and saw eight score in the game-sealing run. Casey, Urey and Rhatigan added to the lead in the third to make it a 16-4 lead for Mercer heading into the last 15 minutes of the game.
Rhatigan needed just five seconds to tack on her fifth score of the game in the fourth to make it a 13-goal lead. Not even a minute had passed before Rhatigan set Schaeffer up with a score to make the advantage 14. For added insurance,
Jordan Bramble scored to up the score to 19-4.
Taylor Yahn then found Gabby Divirgilo for a score to make it 20-4. Urey and
Grace Swail capped the goals for Mercer to secure the 22-4 win.
Abby Soltys was a force in the draw circle – winning 13 of Mercer's 21 on the contest. As a team, Mercer won 21 of the game's 28 (75%). The Bears fired off 41 shots with 31 being on cage and converted on 16-of-18 (88.9%) of clearing chances.
In net,
Iseabal Cryne tallied five saves in 60 minutes of action. The graduate student scooped a pair of ground balls.
On Sunday, Mercer will face top-seeded High Point in the Big South Championship game at 1 p.m. from Vert Stadium. The Bears will be going for their fourth consecutive league tournament title and bid to the NCAA Tournament in the rematch with the Panthers.