Mercer Outlasts Men?s Soccer in OT

MACON, Ga. – Georgia Southern men’s soccer fell, Sunday evening, to Mercer in a 1-0, overtime clash after the Bears' Daniel Concepcion scored off a corner kick in the 94th minute.

The Eagles drop to 1-3 overall, extending the skid to three games. Mercer improves to 3-1 winning its third straight.

Both teams registered only one shot in the first stanza, while Georgia Southern held a 3-2 advantage in first-half corner kicks.

Georgia Southern’s lone shot in the first half came off the foot of junior midfielder Scott DeVault (Woodstock, Ga.) in the 22nd minute, but was stopped by Mercer’s David Bird.

In the second half, both teams struggled to find the back of the net. Mercer added five more shots to their tally, but sophomore keeper Joey Ralph (Martinez, Ga.) stopped all three of the Bears’ shots on goal.

The Eagles’ best chances came in the last ten minutes of regulation. Sophomore forward Jon-Pierre Anthony (Birmingham, Ala.) tallied a pair of shots in the 82nd and 88th minutes, while junior defender Jon Kinsler (Ormond Beach, Fla.) fired a shot in the 87th minute, but each of them were stopped by Mercer’s goalkeeper.

“Overall the effort was great today,” said second-year head coach Kevin Kennedy. “I was pleased with the way we played. We should’ve had a couple opportunities that we should have put away. We had good looks today, but we just did not finish with the chances we got. We take some confidence in that we created some good opportunities.”

Ralph had a strong performance in the cage, making four total saves in 93:30 minutes of action. Mercer’s David Bird garnered the shutout victory, also making four saves on the day.

“This was a game that Joey (Ralph) will get better from,” said Kennedy. “His communication was better, and his distribution was good today.”

Overall, the Bears led in the shots category by a 7-4 margin. The Eagles held a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.

The Bears played one man down after Richard Perdomo received his second yellow card of the match in the 68th minute.

The Eagles will have Monday and Tuesday to regroup before they continue their seven-game road trip and clash with North Carolina State. The Wednesday (Sep. 12) game is slated for 4 p.m. in Raleigh, N.C. at Derr Stadium.

Category: Men's Soccer

Published on Sunday, 09 September 2007 00:23