Mercer's goal lifts Burlington over Mediapolis in boys soccer opener

Matthew Mercer scored the winning goal in the second half and Burlington High School opened the boys soccer season with a 2-1 win over Mediapolis at Burlington's Bracewell Stadium Tuesday night.

Braden Schoene assisted on Mercer's goal. Brian Velazquez scored unassisted in the first half for the Grayhounds. BHS goalkeeper Cayden Lowary had 10 saves.

Burlington is now idle until April 7 when it opens Southeast Conference play at Keokuk. Mediapolis plays in Saturday's Spartan Classic at Solon.

GIRLS SOCCER

MOUNT PLEASANT 6, MEDIAPOLIS 2: Elly Manning scored four goals as the Panthers overcame an early deficit to defeat the Bullettes at East Lake Park in Mount Pleasant.

Hadley Johnson opened the scoring to give Mediapolis a 1-0 lead. The Panthers responded with a goal by Tori Wilson off an assists from Manning, then got a Manning unassisted goal to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.

Manning scored three goals in the second half, two off assists from Charice Auwerda. Auwerda scored the sixth Mount Pleasant goal.

Leslie Lopez had four saves for the Panthers, while Evelyn Escobar had two saves.

Mount Pleasant plays Thursday at Central Lee.

PREP SOFTBALL

ILLINI WEST 13, WEST PRAIRIE 1: The Chargers banged out 12 hits and coasted past West Prairie in five innings at LaHarpe, Illinois.

Kaelyn Ferrill went 3-for-3 for Illini West. Reagan Reed singled, tripled and drove in three runs. Ella Shutwell was 2-for-3. Elly Krieg doubled and drove in three runs. Madalyn Boyer doubled home one run. Rachel Jones hit a triple.

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

NO. 3 DMACC 5-4, SCC 3-3: Third-ranked (NJCAA Div. II) Des Moines Area Community College swept a doubleheader from Southeastern Community College at the FunCity Turf.

In the first game, SCC scored once in the bottom of the seventh but couldn't catch the Bears. The Blackhawks' Lydia Allen-Barnes went 2-for-3 and Maddy Stutsman doubled in a run. Lillie Hynick and Kylie McConville each had an RBI. Adessa Vandenburg (5-2) was the losing pitcher, giving up four earned runs on nine hits and two walks in seven innings. She struck out five.

Sydney Kennedy (3-0) pitched the win, surrendering no earned runs on five hits and two walks in six innings. She fanned six Blackhawks Emma Dighton pitched the last inning for her first save. Madison Kearns homered for the Bears.

In the second game, SCC's McConville homered and drove in two runs. Megan Topping went 2-for-3. Kayla Norton (5-2) was the losing pitcher. She gave up four runs, just two earned, on six hits and a walk in six innings. She struck out five.

Dighton led DMACC with a single, homer and two RBIs in three trips. Lexi Lander (6-1) picked up the win with three innings of relief.

DMACC improved to 26-3; SCC is 15-10.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

INDIAN HILLS 19-6, SCC 6-3: The Warriors swept Southeastern Community College in a doubleheader at the Wagner Athletic Complex.

SCC (17-10) plays a doubleheader against Iowa Western Saturday at Council Bluffs. Indian Hills improved to 16-5.

MONDAY'S LATE RESULTS

PREP TRACK & FIELD

CHARGER GIRLS WIN 8 EVENTS: Illini West's girls won eight events and the Charger boys won two in the Central High School meet at Camp Point, Illinois.

Illini West's Josie Bryan won three events — the 200-meter dash in 29.60 seconds, the 400 in 1:09.40 and the long jump with a leap of 4.50 meters. Abbie Johnson won the discus with a toss of 28.45 meters and the shot put, heaving it 8.04 meters.

The Chargers' Ali Lopez won the 100-meter dash in a personal record 13.89 seconds. Emma Whitaker won the 800 meters in 3:05.34 and Yoanny Espinoza won the triple jump in 10.40 meters.

In the boys meet, Illini West's Sawyer Pence won the triple jump in 11.85 meters. The Charger 4x200 relay team of Thomas Chandler, Carter Chapin, Jorge Espinoza and Colin Curfman won in 1:46.49.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington boys eke out a 2-1 win over Mediapolis at Bracewell Stadium