That was Fun! Soccer Cruises to SoCon Finals with 6-1 Dismantling of Mercer
- Chris S
- Apr 9, 2021
- 2 min read
Going into Friday's game, I was expecting a tight affair. And why not? The teams met two weeks ago where Samford came from behind to erase a 1-0 deficit by scoring 2 goals late in the second half, with the winning goal coming with just seconds left in regulation. Plus, Mercer finished the regular season with a 5-3 record in conference, so they were no push over. However, it was clear within the first 15 or so minutes that I knew Samford would have the inside track on advancing to next week's Championship game.
The game's scoring account was opened in the 8th minute thanks to a Mercer own goal, however a Samford player was right there if there had been no deflection, so it was really more of a question of who would get the credit for the goal. Kayla Reynolds scored goals 2, 4, and 5, for the Bulldogs with two coming after an extremely long lightning delay. Caroline Orman connected with Alyssa Frazier less than a minute after Reynolds' first goal, making the score 3-0, which would stay unchanged for the rest of the first half.
Morgan Greene scored the final goal of the night in the 76th minute, chipping the loose ball over the Mercer Keeper.
Mercer's lone goal came just minutes after the game resumed from its lengthy delay as the Bulldog defense forgot to cover one of the players in the all black jersey. To Mercer's credit, it took a perfect cross and an even better touch from the Lady Bear forward to get it past the diving McAslan. Morgan McAslan would face one more shot on the day, needing every inch of her wingspan to keep the ball out of the net.
The game was physical from the word "go" as there were a total of 6 yellow cards shown. 4 were against the Lady Bears, including one being shown to the coach right before halftime. Samford picked up its two yellow cards when the game was all but decided.
Samford will get to sleep in their own beds for the rest of the week as the winner of the Furman/Chattanooga game will travel to Birmingham for the SoCon Championship Game either next Friday or Saturday. The Paladins and Mocs will finish out the Simi Final round on Saturday evening with the game being streamed on ESPN+.
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