Mercer men’s lacrosse opens A-Sun Tournament play Thursday

MACON, Ga. (MERCER ATHLETICS RELEASE) – The Mercer men’s lacrosse team will open Atlantic Sun Tournament play on Thursday, hosting Richmond for a 7 p.m. faceoff at Mercer University Stadium.

The top-seeded Bears take on the Spiders with a chance to advance to Saturday’s final against the winner of the No. 2 High Point-No. 3 Jacksonville matchup. Preceding Mercer’s game is Taste of Macon, with numerous vendors from Macon providing free food for students.

SCOUTING RICHMOND
The Spiders earned the No. 4 seed in the A-Sun Tournament by virtue of a 2-3 league record and 4-10 overall ledger. The team is 1-5 in away games this season, with the lone win coming in a 13-10 triumph at Furman on April 5.

Thursday’s matchup is the second go-around between the squads this season, with Mercer claiming an 11-7 win on Feb. 22 in the first matchup. Mercer finished that contest on a 5-0 scoring run to put away the visitors.

Six different Richmond players have double-figure point totals, led by Mitchell Goldberg’s team-leading 34. Goldberg was named the A-Sun Freshman of the Year on Tuesday while also garnering an All-Conference first team selection.

The Spiders lead the conference in caused turnovers per game and rank ninth nationally in the statistic. Freshman Brendan Hynes paces the team with a league-leading 2.36 caused turnovers per game.

FAST FACTS
Mercer took home a myriad of awards on Wednesday as the A-Sun released its postseason awards. Head coach Kyle Hannan was named the A-Sun Coach of the Year, while six players earned All-Conference recognition. Sophomore JT Del Tufo was also named to the conference’s All-Academic squad.

Mercer was unbeaten at Mercer University Stadium during the regular season, claiming wins over Boston University, Richmond, VMI and Furman. The Bears combined to outscore opponents 45-24 in those games.

As the No. 1 seed, Mercer earned hosting rights for the entire A-Sun Tournament. The matchup between High Point and Jacksonville is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start at Mercer University Stadium.