STATESBORO - Mercer's Leonel Toledo Jr. broke a 2-2 deadlock in the 82nd minute with a goal to give the visiting Bears a 3-2 men's college soccer victory over host Georgia Southern on Friday evening at Eagle Field.

The 50th meeting between the two nearby rivals lived up to the billing - even if it got a late start, thanks to a lightning delay that pushed back the opening kick an hour. In the end, the Bears (6-2) collected a third straight win in the series over the Eagles (4-4) and now lead the overall series, 26-24.

Mercer started quickly, scoring twice in a two-minute stretch early in the first half. A ball from the left side by Dawson Gideon found Trevor Martineau in the box. Martineau's shot was initially saved by Eagles goalkeeper Jokull Blaengsson, but Dylan Gaither swooped in and put home the rebound for the 1-0 lead in the 18th minute.

A fantastic through ball by Kareve Richards from the right side of the field found the foot of Martineau in the 20th minute, and Martineau poked home the goal to send the Bears into the break up 2-0. Mercer outshot the Eagles 9-2 in the first half.

The Eagles rallied in the second half, getting on the board in the 67th minute on junior Aldair Cortes' free kick goal from about 28 yards out that bent inside the upper 90 near post for his second goal of the season. 

Georgia Southern then equalized in the 74th minute as a throw-in was collected on the end line by senior Azaad Liadi. Liadi's cross was deftly redirected by sophomore Adam Davie inside the far post for his fifth goal of the year and the 2-2 score.

Toledo's match-winner came just over eight minutes later as he brought a ball through midfield to the right side of the box, made a pair of moves then uncorked a shot that beat Blaengsson to the right for the score.

"You can't play half a game, or 30 minutes or play in phases," Georgia Southern Head Men's Soccer Coach John Murphy said. "Even coming back [in the second half] and equalizing, doing so well, then we switch off and concede the third goal. It can't be done at any decent level of play."

Mercer finished the evening with 12 shots, compared to nine for the Eagles, but Georgia Southern had a 7-3 edge in shots after halftime. Blaengsson and Mercer goalkeeper JR DeRose each had three saves on the night. Mercer had a 6-4 edge in corner kicks, while there were 13 fouls whistled against the Bears and nine on the Eagles.

"The second half was much much better," Murphy said. "But if you concede two goals, forget about three goals, you're putting yourself in a very difficult situation to get any kind of result. It seems to be a trend with us, and it just can't be hit or miss - where you start off and score 30 seconds into the game, or you concede 2 goals in the first half. It's too volatile, there needs to be some consistency. I can't fault the effort of our kids, and it certainly was an exciting game for the fans."

Georgia Southern returns to action on Tuesday, October 1st, hosting Jacksonville University at the Armstrong Soccer Field in Savannah, Ga., on the Georgia Southern Armstrong Campus. Match time is at 7 p.m. and admission is free.