NOTEPAD: Mercer soccer set for SoCon tourney, Wesleyan adds two new sports and more

The Mercer women’s soccer team is set to compete in the Southern Conference tournament this week after finishing 5-2-2 in conference play and 11-4-3 in the regular season.

The Bears earned the No. 4 seed in the 10-team tournament with the record and will face No. 5 Chattanooga in the first round Friday at 4 p.m. in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Should Mercer win, it will likely face top-seeded Western Carolina in the next round.

Larkin Thomason has led the team offensively this year, notching 14 goals and six assists. She scored a hat trick against UNC Asheville in August and led the Bears in points with 34 on the season. Lindsay Bell has also been solid in goal all year for
Mercer.

The men’s team will wrap up the last bit of its regular season this weekend before the SoCon tournament begins next week.

The men’s team, the favorite to win the conference in the preseason poll, is a lackluster 1-2-1 in SoCon play so far, good for fifth out of six teams. The Bears showed flashes on multiple occasions this season — they tied No. 3 North Carolina on the road and got another ranked draw against No. 23 UNC-Greensboro in Macon — but did not put it together in conference play.

Still, Mercer has kept all its games close, falling to ETSU and Wofford in tight 1-0 contests for its two conference losses. Keeper Trevor McMullen is averaging less than one goal against this year and has a .786 save percentage. Archer High School alum Barzee Blama has been solid as a sophomore with 10 points on four goals.

The Bears will finish the regular season with a road game against Furman at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Wesleyan announces two new sports

The Wolves will compete in two new sports, beach volleyball and hockey, in the future, the college announced via social media.

Wesleyan posted a video announcing the groundbreaking of new beach volleyball courts last week on Instagram. The college dubbed the courts “Wes Beach” but did not announce a finishing date in the social media post.

The next announcement came Monday, when Wesleyan announced a hockey team for 2025. The promotional video featured the Wolves mascot donning a hockey jersey and lacing up skates with president Meaghan Blight. 

The Wolves will play in the Macon Coliseum with former Macon Mayhem player Caleb Cameron at the helm as head coach. Cameron played professional hockey in the SPHL and other leagues for seven years and was a team captain for the Mayhem as well as a head coach.

Mayhem start season 1-2

The Macon Mayhem see-sawed on the ice to start the year, losing their opener and winning the second game before losing their most recent contest Saturday to start the season 1-2.

The intense 4-3 loss in the opener against the Birmingham Bulls was a back-and-forth affair, as Birmingham managed another goal each time the Mayhem pulled even. Macon had better luck in the second game, a 4-2 win over the Fayetteville Marksmen fueled by goals from newcomers Patriks Marcinkevics and Trent Grimshaw.

Jake Goldowski scored a goal in both that win and the next game, a 4-2 loss to Fayetteville. The Mayhem allowed the first score in all three games.

Macon plays two games away against Birmingham Friday and Saturday before traveling to Huntsville next week.

ACE reaches softball Elite 8 in Columbus

The Gryphons, the last Macon softball team still playing in the postseason after GIAA’s tournament ended, punched their ticket to the Elite 8 rounds with two wins over Jeff Davis at home last week.

ACE won Game 1 5-4 in walk-off fashion last Thursday afternoon before taking the late game 6-4 over the Yellowjackets to secure the sweep. It’s the third trip to Columbus in the past four seasons for the Gryphons.

Madisyn Hallar knocked the walk-off hit in the first game, while the second win was fueled by home runs from Karsyn and Karlee Yates, twin sisters that tore their ACLs earlier in the year. The two hit long balls in the same inning in storybook fashion to wrap up the game.

ACE lost its first playoff game Wednesday morning to No. 1 Toombs County 14-0 and will look to continue in the loser’s bracket Thursday after the paper goes to print.