Mercer Women’s Soccer Hits Road for Final Weekend of A-Sun Play

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – With postseason positioning on the line, the Mercer women’s soccer team heads into its final weekend of the regular season with a pair of road contests in the River City.

Mercer (9-6-2, 4-2-1 A-Sun) takes on North Florida to open things up on October 25 at 7 p.m. before closing out the 2013 regular season against second-place Jacksonville on October 27 at 2 p.m.

The Bears are currently tied for third-place in the A-Sun Conference standings with Kennesaw State and Stetson, but own the tie breaker due to head-to-head wins over both schools.

Scouting the Opposition

North Florida (5-9-3, 2-4-1 A-Sun) comes into play this weekend desperate for results as it currently sits in a tie for seventh-place in the A-Sun Conference standings with seven points. The Ospreys have been playing better of late as they have captured results in three out of their last four contests, including a 3-0 win over USC Upstate last time out on Oct. 20. UNF has had its problems on the defensive side of the field in 2013, as it ranks tied for seventh in the A-Sun allowing 1.53 goals per game. Senior midfielder Thea Linkfield paces the Ospreys offense with 10 points on five goals.

Jacksonville (10-6-0, 5-2-0 A-Sun) has had a solid season to date and is one of only two teams in the league that have already clinched a spot in the upcoming A-Sun Championship. The Dolphins have balance on both sides of the ball due to the play of senior defender Alexandra Lee and junior forward Kaitlyn Bassett. Lee, who was named the A-Sun Conference Preseason Defender of the Year, captains a Jacksonville defense that allows only 1.25 goals per game while Bassett is tied for second in the A-Sun with 11 goals scored and leads the league with six game-winning goals in 2013.

Last Time Out

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer women’s soccer team struck for two second half goals to pull out a 2-1 comeback win on Senior Day against Stetson on Sunday afternoon at Bear Field.

Down 1-0, the Bears jumped on the offensive to start the second half and received a game-tying goal from one of their seniors. Jordan Sink sent in a ball to junior Washida Blackman who laid off a pass to Sadie Curry who chipped in a shot perfectly over the Stetson goalkeeper to tie things up at 1-1.

The goal for Curry was her first of the season and the second of her four-year career at Mercer.

Riding the momentum after the Curry goal, the Bears put the game out of reach when a quick corner kick gave the ball to freshman Kim Murphy who fired a shot off the crossbar and in to give the home team a 2-1 win.

Game Notes

– Senior Casey Barrett appeared in her 78th career game in Mercer’s 2-1 win over Stetson on Oct. 20. Barrett is now tied for 27th for the most games played in a career in A-Sun Conference history and will pass former teammates Patricia-Anne Upson and Kacie Hudson next time out for the most games played by a Mercer player in program history.