Hoosiers Narrowly Defeat Bears 2-1

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor / Columnist

It’s not everyday that Mercer draws a Big Ten school into Macon, but when they do, they aim to capitalize on the event. Unfortunately, the Mercer women’s soccer team came up just short, losing to the Hoosiers 2-1 on Sunday morning. Grant Serafy’s squad looked sharp early on, coming off of a 1-1 tie against #16 Georgia. Sara Elliot scored her third goal of the season during the 39th minute of the match, courtesy of a perfect Kate Alderman pass to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. The header from Elliot passed to the left of Indiana’s goalie Lauren Hollandsworth to give the Mercer faithful something to cheer about.

However, in the second half, it was the Hoosiers who went on the attack, scoring two goals to escape middle Georgia with the win. Indiana sophomore Carley Samp changed the contest with a 63rd minute goal from teammate Kelly Lawrence while the decisive goal came nine minutes later. Beating two Mercer defenders down the field, Lawrence tallied her second assist when her pass to senior Christie Kotynski went into the Bears’ goal.

A late push from Mercer came up short as they would fall to 2-2-1 on the season. The Hoosiers improved to 5-0-0 after the Sunday morning defeat.

The game was a tale of two different halves. Mercer outshot their visitors 6-3 in the first half before the Hoosiers dominated the second half 7-1. The corner kicks followed the same trend as Mercer outshot Indiana 3-1 before the reversal of 2-1 in the second half. Mercer attacked on offense in the first half, but struggled mightily to control the ball later in the contest.

The Bears will look to notch another win at home Saturday when they face in-state foe Kennesaw State to begin this season’s conference play. The Owls, Mercer’s biggest rivals during the past few seasons, have had a slow start to the 2009 campaign, accruing a 1-3-0 record. It’ll no doubt be a feisty match worth attending when both team meet on the field Saturday night at 7pm.