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Marquette held Mercer without a goal for a 21+ minute stretch of the second half, including almost all of the fourth quarter and rallied to defeat the Bears, 14-11.
Zack Ward scored his 4th goal of the game at the 8:28 mark of the third quarter to put Mercer up 10-7 to reestablish a cushion after Marquette had tied the game at 6 in the second quarter. Mercer would not score again until just 1:42 remained in the game and after the Golden Eagles had rattled off six straight goals to take a 13-10 lead. Bryan Badolato scored three of his game high five goals during that stretch. It was defense that paved the way for Marquette's rally. MU forced seven Mercer turnovers in the fourth quarter and generally kept the ball away from goalie JJ Sagl. The Bears only took six shots in the final period, their lowest total in the game, and Sagl only had to make one save to give MU the chance to rally.
Badolato and Conor Gately are turning into a formidable offensive pairing for the Golden Eagles. They teamed up for seven goals and seven assists in this one, with Gately getting five assists alongside two goals to maintain his team lead in points. Tyler Melnyk also had a five point day, getting two goals and three assists. Chris Baxa led the Bears in both goals (5) and assists (2).
Up Next: Marquette heads up the Atlantic coast to Philadelphia to play Saint Joseph's (3-4) on Saturday morning.