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Kennesaw, Ga. – Kennesaw State women's lacrosse suffered an 18-5 loss at the hands of Mercer on Wednesday afternoon after being shut out in the first half. KSU fell to 1-3 on the year, while Mercer notched its first win to also reach 1-3.
KEY PLAYERS: Lauren Dobbs continues to shine on defense for the Owls, with five groundballs and four caused turnovers.
Lavona Watkins led the way offensively again, scoring a pair of goals on the day.
Sophia Nunez also got on the board, scoring her first career goal.
THE RUNDOWN: The Bears had firm control over the Owls with a 24-6 shot advantage in the first half, scoring goals on half of them to carry a 12-0 lead into halftime. The Owls came out of the break on fire, scoring three goals in a row, courtesy of Watkins,
Caleigh Shore, and
Lexi Tinker. The run was quickly shut down by Mercer, as it added two more goals by the end of the third quarter for a 14-3 lead headed into the final 15 minutes. Watkins added her second goal of the day by securing the draw control and taking it herself down the left side before cutting back to the middle and firing it into the net. Nunez was then able to score her first collegiate goal as the clock struck zero on the game.
POSTGAME QUOTE – HEAD COACH LAURA MANESS
"I think we came out very slow, that's very hard to dig out of. I don't think we came out with the fire in the belly that we needed to compete off the first whistle. Dobbs [was] all over the place defensively, trying to get those extra possessions, extra plays to spark the offense and give them a chance to be successful. I also think we improved our clearing, that was a huge focus, making sure we're clearing the ball in transition correctly. The goal is always to clear it 80% or higher, and it looks like we did a pretty good job on that. Offensively, we still have some work to do, really wanting to make sure every possession ends in a scoring opportunity."
NOTES
- Lauren Dobbs moved into ninth place all-time in KSU history in groundballs, now sitting with 81 for her career.
- Sophomore Roxy Surridge made her first appearance in the net for the Owls season, playing the entire second half.
- KSU saw major improvement in clears, with 14 out of 15 being successful.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls take a short trip to Spartanburg, S.C. to face the Wofford Terriers on Sunday, March 1 at noon, before returning home next Wednesday, March 4 to take on Presbyterian at 6 p.m.
