MACON, Ga. - Mercer men's soccer scored twice in a four-minute first-half span to claim a 3-1 victory over visiting Georgia Southern on Saturday evening at Betts Stadium in Macon, Ga.

The Bears (6-2-2) have won the last two meetings between the in-state rivals and now lead the overall series between the teams, 25-24. Georgia Southern falls to 3-4-1 overall, dropping its fourth match out of its last five. The Eagles return to action on Tuesday, October 2nd, hosting Florida Atlantic at 7 p.m. at Eagle Field.

Mercer's Emmet Johnson sent a ball into the box from the left side in the 19th minute, which Trevor Martineau dove and got a glancing touch on with his head to redirect it past Georgia Southern goalkeeper Jokull Blaengsson for the match's first goal.

Just under four minutes later, Kobe Perez made it a two-goal lead for the Bears, scoring in the 23rd minute off of assists from Leo Toledo Jr. and Johnson to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. Mercer had a 6-4 edge in shots at the break.

In the second half, the Eagles had the majority of shots but Mercer kept Georgia Southern off the board until the nation's second-leading scorer, Javier Carbonell, finally broke through for the visitors. In the 85th minute, Samuel Mayer and Sebastian Gregersen connected on passes to give Carbonell a service into the box, which Carbonell buried for his 10th goal of the season. He is the 14th Georgia Southern player to reach double digit goals in a single season and the first since Luigi Clendening in 2011.

With the Eagles pushing for the equalizer, Mercer clinched the contest with just 36 seconds left on the clock, getting a goal from Ricardo Packer Jr.

"We were second-best all night," Georgia Southern Head Coach John Murphy said. "The late goal just papered over the cracks of a poor team performance. Mercer out-worked us for all but 10 minutes of the match, and that is unacceptable around here. I'm not sure exactly why we are in the current malaise we are in, but it better change, and change quickly. There is no time to feel sorry for ourselves with FAU coming in to town on Tuesday. It will be a tough game, but right now it is more about how we will react as a team in the coming days.

Georgia Southern finished the match with a 17-10 edge in shots. Mercer goalkeeper JR DeRose made seven saves in net, while Blaengsson made four saves for the Eagles. Mercer had a 6-2 edge in corner kicks and were whistled for 12 fouls on the night, compared to 10 for the Eagles. Mercer was offsides four times and Georgia Southern was offsides once.