Men's Soccer Places Seven on SoCon All-Conference Teams
11/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's soccer team placed a league-leading three members on the Southern Conference All-Conference First Team and were second overall with a total of seven players earning recognition, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.
Will Bagrou and Jordan Duru were named to the first team for the second straight year, while Ian Antley also earned first team honors. Conner Antley, Airrion Blackstock and Jeremy Booth were named to the All-Conference Second Team, while Kobe Perez earned an All-Freshman Team nod.
Bagrou is second for Mercer this season with five goals, four assists and 14 points. The sophomore has tallied a total of 17 goals in his career at Mercer, ranking him ninth on Mercer's all-time career goals list. Bagrou has also registered two game-winning goals and one game-tying score this season.
Duru has been a constant presence in the midfield for the Bears this season, as he currently leads Mercer with seven goals, seven assists and 21 points. His seven assists this year ties him for seventh on Mercer's single season assists list. Duru has tallied three game-winning scores this season, which ties him for first in the SoCon, and he also ranks second in the league in total assists and third in total points.
Ian Antley anchors a Mercer back line that has recorded a league-leading seven shutouts this season. The Bears' defense has also notched a 1.07 team goals-against average, which ranks third in the conference. Antley also registered a pair of goals and assists to total six points on the year.
Conner Antley played in 12 games for the Bears before being sidelined by injury in Mercer's 1-1 tie against Wofford on Oct. 17. In those 12 games, Antley logged three goals and an assist for a total of seven points. All three of Antley's goals were game-winning scores, tying him for first in the league with Duru.
Airrion Blackstock earned second team honors after starting all 19 games so far this season for the Bears. Blackstock is one of just two Mercer players who has played every minute this season, helping the defense tally seven shutouts and allow just 1.07 goals per game.
Jeremy Booth has also seen every minute of action for Mercer, having made 80 saves and allowed 21 goals for a .792 save percentage and a 1.07 GAA. He leads the conference in save percentage, while ranking second in GAA, total saves and saves per game (4.21).
Kobe Perez is third for Mercer with 10 points and three goals, while tying for second with four assists. Perez has played in all 19 games for Mercer this season, one of just two rookies to do so.
The Bears went 10-6-2 in the regular season, securing the fourth 10-win season under Head Coach Brad Ruzzo. Mercer is currently 11-6-2 after defeating sixth-seeded VMI, 7-0, on Saturday in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament.
Mercer will face Furman on Friday, Nov. 13 at 5:00 p.m. in the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament. The SoCon semifinals and finals will be played at the Summers-Taylor Stadium on ETSU's campus in Johnson City, Tenn.
2015 Men's Soccer All-Conference Team
Player of the Year – Jacques Francois, Sr., F, UNCG
Goalkeeper of the Year – Alex Guerra, Sr., VMI
Coach of the Year – Doug Allison, Furman
Freshman of the Year – Leeroy Maguraushe, MF, UNCG
First Team
Fletcher Eckern, F, ETSU
Will Bagrou, F, Mercer
Jacques Francois, F, UNCG
James Smith, MF, ETSU
Adrian McInnis, MF, Furman
Jordan Duru, MF, Mercer
Leeroy Maguraushe, MF, UNCG
Ian Antley, D, Mercer
Hugo Coicaud, D, UNCG
Connor Davis, D, Wofford
Alex Guerra, GK, VMI
Second Team
Lewis Hawke, F, Furman
amieon Thomas, F, UNCG
Matthew Aurednik, F, Wofford
Eli Pinner, MF, Furman
Conner Antley, MF, Mercer
Matteo Busio, MF, UNCG
Will Puckett, MF, Wofford
Airrion Blackstock, D, Mercer
Nicholas Downs, D, UNCG
Jordan Poarch, D, UNCG
Jonny Sutherland, GK, ETSU
Jeremy Booth, GK, Mercer
All-Freshman Team
Christian Ilia, ETSU
Jonny Sutherland, ETSU
Josiah Baker, Furman
Dalton Souder, Furman
Noah Teplitzky, Furman
Kobe Perez, Mercer
Matteo Busio, UNCG
Leeory Maguraushe, UNCG
Grant Austin, VMI
Jonathan Dean, Wofford
Connor Donohue, Wofford
Kyle Nelson, Wofford
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.
