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MACON, Ga. – After netting the opening goals, the Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team fell behind after a big first half run from Mercer and could not recover, falling to the Bears 20-9 Tuesday evening.
 
How it happened: Marissa Gore got the Owls (2-6, 0-1) rolling with the day's opening goal before Emily Napierala found Abby Squires not three minutes later to give KSU a 2-0 advantage over the Bears (3-5). After a back-and-forth few minutes, Mercer then seized control with a 3-0 run in the span of a little over two minutes to lead 3-2 at the 16:04 mark.
 
The Bears continued to pressure the Owls, extending its lead to 9-2, as the Owls went nearly 10 minutes without a single shot. Marissa Gore finally ended the drought for the Owls with just under four minutes to go, netting her second goal of the game to make it 9-3.
 
Mercer netted three more goals, two in the final minute, before the first half came to a close with KSU trailing 12-3. The Bears outshot KSU 30-11 in the first half, with 10 turnovers by the Owls compared to five from Mercer. Neither team converted a free position attempt in the first half, combining to go 0-for-6.
 
The Bears looked to keep their momentum going with a goal to open the second half, but the Owls answered with back-to-back goals within 30 seconds from Haley Swift and Siena Gore to make it 13-5 at the 22:56 mark. 
 
The two teams proceeded to trade goals as the Owls attempted to cut into Mercer's lead with another goal from Siena Gore followed by KSU's lone free position goal of the game from Napierala. The Bears quelled each comeback attempt by KSU, answering each goal with one of their own to extend the lead to 17-7 with 14:16 still to play.
 
Mercer recorded three more goals before KSU brought the Bears' 5-0 run to an end with goals from Jennifer Buckley and Marissa Gore in the final minute to earn the final score.
 
Notes: Marissa Gore led the team in scoring, recording her second career hat trick … Gore finished with four points, adding one assist, her seventh in the last four games … Jennifer Buckley logged her third straight game with at least one goal while recording her first career assist … Emily Napierala recorded her 10th assist of the season after logging two against the Bears … Siena Gore finished with two goals, marking only the second time this year she has scored less than three goals … Tuesday's game marked only the second time this year the Owls allowed 20 goals … Mercer outshot KSU 44-27 … Alex Bunn recorded her seventh game with double-digit saves, finishing with 10 … Siena Gore led the team with five ground balls, her second straight game with five or more, followed by Maura Palandro with three … the Bears recorded 29 ground balls compared to KSU's 16 … the Owls finished the game 1-of-9 on free position shots.
 
Up next: The Owls will have some time to recharge and regroup with their next match slated for next Friday (Mar. 29) when KSU hosts Central Michigan at 4 p.m.