Mercer Wins 2023 Big South Women's Lacrosse Championship
By Mercer Athletics
MACON, Ga. – Kayla Soltys scored the game-winning goal with less than five minutes to play and Mercer's defense came up with a stand at the end of the game as Mercer women's lacrosse defeated Campbell 11-10 to win the Big South Tournament Championship on Sunday afternoon.
The Bears captured both the Big South regular season and tournament titles this season. Mercer will play in its fifth NCAA Tournament in program history. The NCAA Tournament selection show will air Sunday, May 7 on ESPNU beginning at 9 p.m. ET as the Bears learn their first round opponent.
Shots in the game were close, with Mercer outshooting Campbell 19-15 in shots on goal. Each team had 15 turnovers. Campbell won the draw control battle 14-10, including a 9-2 advantage in the second half to climb back in the game after the Camels trailed by four at halftime.
Big South Offensive Player of the Year, Shannon Urey led all goal scorers with five goals including a hat trick in the first quarter.
Hannah Lind was the only other Mercer player with a mult-goal game as she had two goals on the day. Chloe Schaeffer had one goal and three assists.
Soltys scored the game-winning goal for the Bears and led the team with eight draw controls. Carly Curran and Ainsley Malamala had great games defensively for the Bears as each had three caused turnovers. Kate Vanderlinde made five saves in goal for Mercer.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Urey scored three of Mercer's first four goals all within the first six minutes of the first quarter and Mercer led 4-1 in the early stages of the game.
Campbell scored the next two to make it a 4-3 game. The Bears responded with a 4-0 run, as they took advantage of their man-up opportunities scoring three man-up goals – two from Urey and one from Lind – to extend their lead to 8-3. Campbell scored in the closing seconds of the first half for a halftime score of 8-4 Mercer.
The Camels outscored Mercer 4-1 in the third period with Mercer's lone goal coming from Chloe Schaeffer on a free position shot.
The game would be decided in the fourth quarter with Mercer holding a 9-8 lead going into the final 15 minutes.
Kileigh Casey scored a man-down goal for Mercer less than two minutes in the fourth quarter to make it 10-8 Mercer.
After Campbell made it 10-9, Kayla Soltys got by Campbell's defense and scored what would be the game-winning goal and for the time being made it 11-9 Mercer.
Down 11-10, Campbell had possession in the final minute looking to force overtime, but Mercer's defense stood tall as the Bears won back-to-back Big South Tournament Championships.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Kayla Soltys, Mercer (MVP)
Emma Pizzo, Mercer
Shannon Urey, Mercer
Kate Vanderlinde, Mercer
Chandler Stewart, Campbell
Rebekah Taylor, Campbell
Rasa Welsh, Campbell
Taylor Suplee, High Point
Jenna Kraft, High Point
Meg Beal, Furman
Katelyn Sousa, Furman