Mercer University
VMI
Men's Soccer Opens SoCon Play with 1-0 Win Over VMI
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
LEXINGTON, Va. – The Mercer men's soccer team defeated the Virginia Military Institute, 1-0, on Saturday afternoon to pick up its first ever Southern Conference win.
"It is exciting to begin Southern Conference play; we were anticipating the beginning of a new conference," said Head Coach Brad Ruzzo. "It is always great to start with a win, especially on the road. VMI is a very tough place to play and we played very well for long periods today, but we should have finished more of our chances."
In the 21st minute, Airrion Blackstock slighted a ball from deep to Jordan Duru, who fired the ball into the bottom right corner to put Mercer up 1-0. The Bears (5-4-0, 1-0-0 SoCon) proceeded to create a lot of chances, but were unable to reach the back of the net for a second time.
Mercer led VMI (1-6-1, 0-1-0 SoCon) in both shots, 24-4, and corner kicks, 6-2. Duru led the attack for the Bears with seven shots. Additionally, Thomas Glenn had four shots and Chandler Klemm notched three.
With the win, Ruzzo improves to 7-0 in conference openers while at the helm of Mercer soccer.
Next up, Mercer faces East Tennessee State on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. in Johnson City, Tenn.
For all the latest information on Mercer men's soccer, please visit MercerBears.com or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Mercer soccer on Twitter at @Mercer_MSoccer or www.twitter.com/Mercer_MSoccer.
