Men's Soccer To Take on ETSU on Saturday
10/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's soccer team hits the road to take on East Tennessee State on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7:00 p.m.
THE BEAR NECESSITIES
Teams: Mercer (6-5, 1-2 SoCon) vs. ETSU (4-3-2, 1-1-1 SoCon)
Location: Johnson City, Tenn. | Summers-Taylor Stadium
Saturday, Oct. 10 – 7 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_MSoccer
LAST TIME OUT
Mercer fell to Furman in a 1-0 in a double overtime match on Tuesday. All three of Mercer's Southern Conference matches have gone to overtime, but none have resulted in a tie.
SERIES HISTORY
Mercer holds a 5-2-2 advantage in the series with ETSU. The Bears won both meetings with the Bucs last season, both of which were 1-0 decisions.
SCOUTING ETSU
The Bucs are 1-1-1 in league play, with all three of their games having gone to double overtime. Additionally, ETSU is 4-0 at home this season, including a 3-1 triumph over No. 15 Kentucky. On the season, ETSU has outscored its opponents, 15-13, and outshot them 149-110.
James Smith leads the Bucs with 11 points off four goals and a team-high three assists. Fletcher Ekern is tied with Smith for the team-lead with four goals and has added an assist to total nine points. Smith leads the SoCon in both total points and points per game (1.22).
Jonny Sutherland has registered 36 saves and allowed 13 goals while between the pipes for the Bucs. He has recorded a .735 save percentage and a 1.34 goals-against average. Sutherland and the ETSU defense have tallied two shutouts this season.
MERCER NOTES
Conner Antley leads the Mercer attack with three goals and an assist for a team-high seven points. All three of Antley's goals have been game-winning scores, which puts him at the top of the SoCon standings and ranks him 14th nationally.
Will Bagrou, Jordan Duru and Jourdan Gooden have each notched two goals and two assists to tie for second with six points. Duru ranks second in the conference with two game-winning goals. Additionally, eight more players have either scored a goal, dished out an assist or both, meaning a total of 12 players have played a hand in Mercer's scoring this season.
Jeremy Booth has notched 51 saves and allowed 14 goals while in goal for the Bears this season. He has a .785 save percentage, a 1.25 goals-against average and has recorded four shutouts thus far. Booth leads the SoCon in save percentage and is currently second in the league in total saves and ninth nationally. He is also second in the league and 27th nationally in saves per game (4.64).
Mercer's defense leads the league with four shutouts so far this season. The Bears' shutouts all came during the month of September, including three consecutive clean sheets to close out non-conference play.
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.
