Highlights

Greenville, S.C. – David Williamson tallied a career-high five goals and a career-high-tying six points to lead the Paladins to a thrilling 11-10 win over Mercer on Saturday inside Paladin Stadium. The win moves Furman to 3-6 and 2-0 in the early SoCon standings, while the loss drops Mercer to 3-5 and 0-2 in conference play.

The win marked Furman's first over Mercer in school history, as the Bears had won the teams' first three meetings by a combined four goals.

Williamson's five goals led the way in the scoring column, while six other Paladins also tallied a goal. William Holcomb turned in three of Furman's eight assists, while on the defensive end, Brandon Bank caused a team-high three turnovers. Hil Blaze picked up five ground balls and went 13-24 from the faceoff 'X'. Alec Van de Bovenkamp earned his second SoCon win of the season, tying a career-high with 16 saves.

Mercer opened a 1-0 lead halfway through the first period, before Williamson tallied his first goal of the day on an assist from Holcomb to tie the game at one. The Bears then regained the lead at 2-1 on a man-up goal, before Graham Dabbs scored with just four seconds to go in the quarter to tie the game at two.

Lou Yovino netted his only goal of the day to open the second quarter and give Furman its first lead of the day at 3-2, before Mercer scored back-to-back goals to regain the lead at 4-3. Furman then went on a 3-0 scoring run over the next four minutes of game time to take its largest lead of the day at 6-4. Mercer rallied, however, using another man-up goal and scoring with just six seconds to go in the half to send the teams to the locker rooms tied at six.

The teams traded goals in the third period, including a Finn Barry unassisted goal with 2:23 remaining in the period that sparked the Paladins' 3-0 scoring run that proved to be the difference in the game. Williamson opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back goals to open a 10-8 lead for Furman, before Mercer cut the lead to one with 11:46 to go. Both teams played solid defense for the next seven minutes, before Chase Hancock sent a shot into the upper left corner of the goal to push Furman's lead back to two with 4:11 to go.

Mercer scored with 3:00 remaining to cut the lead to one, but Van de Bovenkamp made key saves down the stretch and Furman was able to run out the clock on the game's final possession, giving the Paladins the 11-10 victory.

Furman is back in action Saturday, April 1, traveling to Jacksonville, Fla., to continue SoCon play against the Dolphins.