MACON, Ga. – Despite VMI freshman Willson Tuck scoring a goal just 39 seconds into the match, the VMI men's soccer team suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Mercer Saturday night at Bear Field in Macon, Georgia.

Tuck received a corner kick from fellow freshman Christopher McGhan and kicked the ball into the near post to give the Keydets (0-7-2) a quick 1-0 advantage, their first lead of the season. The margin was short-lived, however, as the Bears responded six minutes later with a goal by Trenton Whitely to knot the score at 1-1 at the 7:36 mark. Both teams would trade shots the remainder of the half with no goals to go into the break with a tie. 

Mercer's Rooby Dalusma scored what came to be the game-winning goal one minute into the second half when he took a cross from Jake Mezei and put it into the VMI net for a 2-1 advantage. League-leading scorer Will Bagrou added another Bear goal in the 77th minute and Dalusma contributed a meaningless goal with two minutes left to yield the game's final result. 

The Bears utilized a relentless attack throughout the game, outshooting the Keydets by a 30-3 margin including an 18-1 advantage in the second half when they scored three goals. 

Bear goalie Jeremy Booth earned the win to improve to 4-4-2 for the season while VMI's Jon Harrington picked up the loss despite five saves for the night. Tuck, Sam Moffatt and Andrew Pope logged the shot attempts for VMI in the loss.

After the two-game road stand, the Keydets return to Patchin Field Tuesday for a SoCon matchup with ETSU. Kickoff is slated for a 4 p.m. start in Lexington.