Greenville, S.C. – The Furman women's lacrosse team saw its three-game winning streak end on Wednesday evening with a 17-11 defeat to the Mercer Bears in Big South Conference action at Paladin Stadium.
Furman drops to 5-8 overall and 3-1 in the Big South. Mercer improves to 7-5 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.
The Paladins had four players finish with a team high three points in
Paige Harman,
Anna Roser,
Mia Falco, and
Sophie Shaw. Harman and Roser both scored three goals while Falco added two goals and an assist. Shaw dished out three assists while
Reynolds Hester contributed two.
Hannah Dintino posted two goals and
Sophia Buzelis added a goal to go with six draws and three ground balls.
Andrea Fisher caused a team best three turnovers. In goal,
Sailor Henderson and
Lily Rathbun combined for 10 saves with Henderson totaling one ground ball and a career high eight saves.
Caroline Glus paced the Bears offensively with a game high six points on five goals and an assist. Gabby DiVirgilio led all players with four assists. In goal, Kate Vanderlinde finished with four saves and three ground balls.
Mercer outscored Furman 8-2 in the second half after the Paladins closed out the first with three straight goals to head into halftime tied at 9-9. The Bears recorded the first three goals of the second half before the Paladins ended a scoreless streak of nearly 14 minutes when Dintino made the score 12-10 at the 1:13 mark of the third quarter. Mercer responded with another 3-0 run to extend its lead to 15-10 with 11:26 left in the contest.
The Bears opened the game on a 4-1 run before Furman answered by scoring four consecutive goals from Roser and Harman to take a 5-4 advantage less than a minute into the second quarter. Following four straight goals from Mercer, the Paladins ended the half on a 4-1 run, covering a stretch of 9:15, to be tied at intermission. Falco and Buzelis combined over the final 5:14 for the last three Furman goals.
The Paladins forced the Bears into 13 turnovers for the contest while registering 13 ground balls and 11 draws.
Furman starts a two-game road trip on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Rock Hill, S.C., for a 1 p.m. opening draw at Winthrop. Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. The game is being streamed via paid subscription on ESPN+. Updates will also be posted on the Furman women's lacrosse Twitter page (@FUWlax).
