MACON, Ga. – For the first time during the fall practice season, the Mercer University men’s lacrosse team had the chance to square off against an opposing team, instead of against each other. The result was a 15-11 scrimmage victory over Birmingham Southern College on Saturday afternoon.

 “We kind of came out like caged animals,” Childs said of his team’s first chance to go against an outside foe in fall drills. “That was OK, but I think some of that got in the way of us picking up first time ground balls and getting the ball up-field, and taking care of what we wanted to take care of.”

A crowd of 200 fans also witnessed the unofficial Mercer debut of attackman Zack Ward, a sophomore transfer from Salisbury University. Ward had a huge day, netting five goals. Ward tallied the Bears’ first goal of the day off the opening draw, barely seven seconds into the contest.

“Zack is a great pick up,” Childs said of his newcomer’s big game. “He’s a very, very talented player.”

Returning standout Cole Branch – who last season ranked among the NCAA Division I leaders in both points and goals by a freshman – sent home three goals versus BSC. Branch also had one assist.

Mercer found scoring from plenty of quarters, as no less than seven other players had one goal apiece.  The group included Justin Evans, Eoin Collins, Sam Grayson, John Avent, Emery Hanback, Ian Gehlbach and Timmy Geron. 

Collins added a pair of assists in the game, while Evans, Hanback and Nate Link had one assist, each.

“It was a fun day,” Childs said.  “It was fantastic to see another great crowd for a practice game. But, as a team, we have a lot of work to do and things we can fine tune. We left a lot of goals out there. We got away with some things today that we won’t be able to when we face Ohio State (in the 2012 season opener).”