Mercer men's lacrosse defeated the Florida Tech Panthers in the season opener, 18-6, at Five Star Stadium. Sophomore Sean Goldsmith tied a Mercer record with six goals in the victory. The Bears went down, 1-0, 31 seconds into the game, but Goldsmith retaliated 2:11 later with an unassisted goal. Michael Quinn, Zach Green, and Jake Priester rounded out the scoring for Mercer in the first quarter. After the first 15 minutes of action, the home team held a 4-2 advantage. Goldsmith opened the scoring for the Bears in the second quarter on an unassisted man-up goal. Mercer was the only team to score in the second quarter as the Bears also received goals from Cole Leggett and Nick Rockefeller to lead at the half, 7-2. Senior Michael Quinn opened the second half scoring with an unassisted goal just 1:45 into the third period. The Panthers' Matt LeComple would get the Panthers within five, 8-3, via an unassisted tally with 11:45 left in the quarter. Goldsmith recorded his third goal of the game with an assist from sophomore Tim Kroneberger less than three minutes later. Quinn and Kroneberger would add to the Bears' scoring with assists from Will McCarthy and Patrick Marks respectively. Goldsmith scored three more times in the fourth quarter to bring his total to six, which tied the Mercer record for single game goals. The Jamestown, N.C. native's record-tying goal came just after the halfway point of the final quarter, as he put the Bears ahead, 16-4 with 7:23 remaining. Each team added a pair of goals following Goldsmimth's score, and Mercer picked up a win in the season opener, 18-6.