Mercer Tames the Tigers
Less than a month ago, Mercer fell 19-7 to Vanderbilt on its home field. The Feb. 19 defeat marked the Bears’ third straight loss to start the 2025 season, as well as a major inflection point for coach Samantha Eustace’s squad.
“There are other teams [where] having that beginning of the season outcome could really derail a season,” Mercer attacker Caroline Glus said. “Instead of letting it consume us, we pushed back and said, ‘This is not how we want to play.’ We decided as a group to collectively make the changes we needed to.”
Just 20 days after seemingly striking a low-point, the Bears rewrote program history Tuesday, knocking off No. 11 Clemson 11-10.
The victory was Mercer’s first-ever win over a ranked opponent and a new milestone for Eustace in her 10th season at the program’s helm.
“I can tell them until they’re blue in the face that they’re good enough to do that,” Eustace said. “Until they do it, it doesn’t matter what I say. Now believing even more just gives us that confidence piece and a nice boost for us.”
Heading into the game, Eustace studied how both Duke and Syracuse face guarded Clemson attacker Kayla MacLeod. The Bears opted against face guarding the Tewaaraton Award watch list member, and their defense stood tall, holding MacLeod to just two goals.
On the attacking end, Glus grabbed four consecutive first-quarter goals in a seven-minute span to help Mercer build a 5-2 lead in the first 15 minutes. Meanwhile, the Bears’ veteran goalkeeper, Kayla Casey, racked up three of her season-high 12 saves in a steady opening frame.
“The great part about that [run] was that a lot of [the goals] started from our defensive stops,” Glus said. “Kayla had an unbelievable game, and our defensive unit was working so well together that a lot of the goals started from transition moments.”
At halftime, Mercer held a 7-3 advantage.
“I’m sure some people saw the score and thought there was something wrong with it, if they weren’t paying attention and watching,” Eustace quipped.
Although the Tigers launched a 4-0 run to tie the game just 16 seconds into the final quarter, the Bears’ upset effort carried enough fuel to provide yet another emphatic response. With the game tied 10-10 as the clock ticked under five minutes of regulation, midfielder Ansley Waters appeared to convert a go-ahead-goal.
While the officials initially signaled for a dangerous shot, a lengthy review overturned the call and gave Waters her third goal of the game.
Clemson came inches away from sending the game to overtime, but attacker Lindsey Marshall’s free position shot struck the post in the final seconds as Mercer celebrated perhaps the season’s most shocking upset.
“It’s a culmination of the players that came before and the continued development of our program,” Eustace said. “We’re going to take some confidence from this and continue to plug along. [We’ll] try to use this to win another Big South Championship this year.”
By the Numbers
8 • School-record tying assists for Frannie Hahn in Florida’s 14-13 comeback win over Navy.
7 • Consecutive wins for No. 18 Ohio State to start the season, marking the program’s first-ever 7-0 start.
4 • Times in the past five Princeton games that a Tiger attacker has set or matched a single-game program scoring record following McKenzie Blake’s eight-goal outing against Rutgers on Wednesday.
88.9 • Madison Taylor’s shooting percentage against Marquette on Friday, with the Northwestern attacker scoring eight goals on nine shots.