MACON, Ga. – Midfielders Emma Gentile and Elisabeth Ralph combined for four goals in Friday afternoon's road SoCon matchup, as Mercer (2-3, 1-0 SoCon) used a strong first half to pull away for a 20-5 victory at Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia.
 
The Terriers move to 0-2 in the Southern Conference, while Mercer collects its first conference win of the season.
 
Gentile led the Terriers with three points, adding two goals and an assist for Elisabeth Ralph, as Ralph also finished with two goals – marking the fourth occurrence this season for the junior. Gentile was also strong at the X for Wofford, recording a season-high five draw controls in the match.
 
Leah Hurley added her fourth goal of the season to round out the scoring, as Ally Furnari and Brenna Duley each recorded assists in the match to complete Wofford's point-getters on the day.

Duley's contributions have been consistent in feeding the Terriers' attack, having registered an assist in each of the past three games. Furnari led with a team-high six draw controls, while her and Hurley both scooped one ground ball.
 
Emma Krasinski led Wofford's defensive efforts with two caused turnovers, two ground balls and one draw control. Goalies Aislinn Washburn and Kelsey Thompson each recorded three saves apiece.
 
After a 15-point deficit through the first frame of action, the Terriers came together in the second half, playing to a 5-5 tie through the final 30 minutes to end the match competing with resilience despite the loss.
 
The Bears opened with a goal in the opening four minutes of the second half, as Emma Krasinski won a draw control that ultimately allowed Emma Gentile to find Elisabeth Ralph for a shot that beat Mercer's goalie to put Wofford on the board (16-1). The Bears added two more scores, as Ralph would respond again a minute later with her second of the day, off the helper from Brenna Duley (18-2).
 
Wofford started to find a brief groove, seeing a Furnari free-position shot and two Mercer turnovers that would go on to allow for Furnari to find Leah Hurley for Wofford's third goal in the 12^th minute (18-3). Shortly after, a costly Bears foul then set up a free-position goal for Emma Gentile, though, Mercer answered in the sixth minute with its final goal (20-4).

The remaining six minutes saw both teams trade possessions, seeing a Ralph draw control, Krasinski caused turnover and ground ball, and Moira Carroll ground ball that would provide for a successful clear that resulted in another Gentile free-position goal with 1:22 left. From there, the Bears would claim the final draw control to hold on for the 20-5 win at the final horn.
 
Wofford (0-5, 0-2 SoCon) returns to action next Friday, March 26, traveling to Kennesaw, Georgia for a non-conference road tilt versus Kennesaw State at 2 p.m.