Mercer Set for Key Tilts with FGCU and Stetson

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – With the regular season drawing to a close and postseason positioning still up for grabs, the Mercer women’s soccer team is ready for a pair of key Atlantic Sun Conference home tilts this weekend at Bear Field.

Mercer (8-5-2, 3-1-1 A-Sun) takes on first-place Florida Gulf Coast to open things up on October 18 at 7 p.m. before closing out the weekend with “Senior Day” against Stetson on October 20 at 1 p.m.

Scouting the Opposition

Florida Gulf Coast (10-3-2, 5-0-1 A-Sun) is currently on a six-match unbeaten streak coming into play on Friday night. The Eagles are 7-0-1 against Mercer all-time and have defeated the Bears in each of the last two A-Sun Conference Championship title games. It’s not hard to see why FGCU is currently sitting in first place in the A-Sun as it leads the league by allowing only 1.00 goals per game and is tied with Mercer for most goals scored in 2013, with 34. Freshman Tabitha Tindell paces the Eagles attack with 21 points on nine goals and three assists.

Stetson (6-6-2, 4-1-1 A-Sun) might be the biggest surprise of the season thus far under first-year head coach Manoj Khettry. After finishing last season with a 3-13-1 overall record, the Hatters enter play this weekend on a four-match unbeaten streak and sitting in second-place in the A-Sun Conference standings. The Hatters improved play of late has been due to an increase in their offensive production as they are averaging 2.33 goals per game over their last six contests. Senior Alyssa Welsh leads the Stetson offense with 10 points on four goals and two assists.

Last Time Out

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer women’s soccer team used a goal from freshman Haleigh Svede in the 109th minute of double overtime to seal a 2-1 comeback win over Kennesaw State on Friday evening at Bear Field.

Mercer is now 3-0-1 in its last four meetings against Kennesaw State (6-7-0, 3-2-0 A-Sun) and jumps ahead of the Owls in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings with the win.

With the score tied at 1-1 and time running out, Mercer finally got the break it was looking for with just a minute left in the game thanks to the left foot of Svede. The Minisink, N.Y. native ran into a crowd of Kennesaw State defenders and managed to put a left-footed shot on the ball that slipped to the left and past Owls goalkeeper Olivia Sturdivant to set off a frenzied celebration for the home team.

Sophomore Maggie Cropp was big in net for Mercer all night long, making a career-high nine saves to help the Bears complete the comeback win.

Game Notes

– In the most recent national statistics release on Oct. 13, Mercer ranks in the top-35 in the country in points per game (29th – 6.67), assists per game (30th – 2.13) and goals per game (32nd – 2.27)