MACON, Ga. – The eyes of the lacrosse world were upon Mercer (1-0) and Bellarmine (0-1) for the kickoff to the Division I men's season and the Bears made the most of the opportunity, winning 9-4.
Right off an Ashton Wood faceoff win, Nick Rockefeller connected the ball to Sean Goldsmith, who slipped it past Bellarmine's JC Higginbotham for the quick 1-0 lead just 14 seconds into the season. Right before the final minute in the opening frame, Taylor Dooley tallied a goal from a Carl Klepper pass to double the Bears' lead to 2-0. Twenty-one ticks later, Parker Judd tripled the lead with an unassisted goal past Higginbotham before the quarter would end.
Bellarmine countered back with three of their own to get to level terms with the hosts.
The Knights’ Christian DellaRocco would assist two teammates – Denton Macdonald and Brayden Brown – in 12 seconds to bring the deficit to just one goal. Nearly nine minutes passed until Benny O'Rourke slipped the equalizing goal past Colin Kelley. Eager to take momentum back to the Bears, Matthew Winegardner scored the go-ahead with 59 ticks left for the halftime lead.
The third frame was dominated by the Bears, as Mercer scored five to firmly pull away from the Knights. Dooley, Cole Leggett, Khory Reid, Goldsmith and Klepper all found the back of the net. A lone fourth-quarter goal by the Knights at Justin Wescoat trimmed the lead to five.
As a team, Mercer outshot Bellarmine 29-28, and had the 16-10 advantage in shots on the cage. Making the most of their opportunities, the Bears scooped up 23 of the game's 33 ground balls and won 14 of the 17 faceoffs.
Neither side was able to take advantage of extra-man chances, but Mercer only had 17 turnovers to Bellarmine's 19.
Klepper (one goal, two assists) and Dooley (two goals, one assist) both totaled three points on the afternoon to pace the Mercer attack. Goldsmith led Mercer with 12 shots, with five of them being on target.
For the second time in three seasons, Mercer will start with a 1-0 mark. Next time out, the Bears will host Bucknell on Feb. 5 at Five Star Stadium. Opening faceoff is slated for 11 a.m.