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SCORE: Kennesaw State 19, Mercer 20
RECORDS: Kennesaw State (5-5, 1-0), Mercer (4-4, 2-0)
KEY PLAYERS: Siena Gore (9 goals, 6 GBs, 6 DCs,), Marissa Gore (1 goal, 5 assts, 8 DCs), Jaxsyn Schonewille (3 goals, 3 DCs, 1 CT), Natalie Welch (2 goals, 1 GB), Emily Napierala (1 goal, 1 asst, 1 GB), bbey Behn (1 goal, 1 asst), Caroline Farley (1 goal, 1 asst, 3 GBs, 2 DCs) and Payton Gregory (3 CTs, 2 GBs).   
 
THE STORYLINE
The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team battled the visiting Bears down to the very end Tuesday afternoon, falling to Mercer 20-19 in a hotly contested overtime game Tuesday in Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
 
MANESS QUOTE
On the close battle and KSU's play…
"I thought today was a really well fought effort and I think that we outplayed Mercer throughout the duration of the game. We talked to our team a lot before the game started about coming out with a fire and a passion and playing the entire 60 minutes without taking any plays off and I feel like we did just that. Additionally, I feel like we really did well in certain areas, we outshot them, we out-hustled them to ground balls, we caused more turnovers, especially in our ride, and I really think that all over the place we out-hustled them and we were the stronger team. I think that they played the final couple of possessions better than us and that's how they were able to pull off that win. We threw everything at Mercer that we had and if something wasn't working, we switched. We ran probably a total of seven different offenses throughout the game and we ran two different defenses and I had three people rotate into the draw just so when something wasn't working just pivoting and going with the next thing. It was quite a chess match out there and I don't think we left any stone unturned. Ultimately it just came down to that overtime and sudden death is really tough and we had our chances. I personally think that we should've been put on the eight meter and we weren't and that's a tough pill to swallow when it comes down to one play. We talked to our team about how good of a brand of lacrosse that we played, because this was some of the best lacrosse we've played all year. So, I think if we can continue to play at this level, I don't think we'll be in one-goal games which is a good sign especially as we get ready to get into more conference opponents. Regardless, this was a tough pill to swallow, the effort, the energy, the focus, everything was there and I'm hoping we can lick our wounds and get back at it and have a good game Friday."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bears grabbed an early two-goal lead to start the game before KSU responded with a free position goal from Siena Gore and a goal from Natalie Welch to even the game 2-2. The Owls secured their first lead of the game thanks to a goal by Marissa Gore who eventually found a streaking Jaxsyn Schonewille for the score to make it 4-3. Another goal by Siena Gore pushed the Owls' lead to 5-3 before back-to-back goals from Mercer in under a minute leveled the game at six.
 
KSU broke it wide open in the final 12 minutes going on a 5-0 run featuring goals from Abbey Behn, Camryn Klaus, Emily Napierala and a pair by Siena Gore to lead 11-6. The Bears pulled two back before the halftime whistle as KSU went into the locker room leading 11-8 thanks in large part to five goals in the period by Siena Gore.
 
The Owls went back-and-forth with the Bears to start the second half until KSU freshman Caroline Farley netted a goal before recording the assist to Welch to extend the lead to 14-10. The two teams proceeded to trade goals over the next 10 minutes as the Bears chipped away at KSU's lead to cut the deficit to one, 16-15, before Siena Gore answered with a pair of goals to keep KSU in front 18-15.
 
Unfortunately for KSU, the Bears buckled down to outscore KSU 4-1 in the final eight minutes, finding the late equalizer with just a minute remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime tied 19-19.
 
Mercer earned the draw control to open the extra period, but Klaus caused a turnover to give KSU a chance. The Owls were unable to capitalize though as Mercer forced a turnover and took it down the field to net the golden goal winner.
 
NOTES
-Siena Gore tied her career-high with nine goals, marking her fourth straight game with at least six goals.
- Marissa Gore dished out a career-high five assists, finishing with six total points, her seventh game in the last eight with at least four points.
- KSU scooped up 24 ground balls, its sixth game this season with 20 or more ground balls.
- The Owls recorded a season-high 15 caused turnovers, one shy of tying the program single-game record.
- Jaxsyn Schonewille recorded her second career hat trick, tying her career-high with three goals.
- Payton Gregory recorded a career-high three caused turnovers.
- Abbey Behn logged her first career assist, finishing with a career-high two points.
 
UP NEXT
The Owls will turn around to host Furman this Friday (Apr. 9) on Sports Park Field 3 at 1 p.m.