Mercer Plays at Furman Tuesday in Pivotal SoCon Match

Tuesday, October 25

Greenville, S.C.

7 PM

Mercer University

Furman

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Photo by: Bill Hirsh

Mercer Plays at Furman Tuesday in Pivotal SoCon Match

10/24/2016 6:05:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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MACON, Ga. – A tight Southern Conference regular season race continues Tuesday as league-leading Mercer travels to Greenville, South Carolina to battle with Furman at 7 p.m. at Stone Soccer Stadium for the Bears' final road match of the season.

Only two matches – including Tuesday's against the Paladins (6-6-3, 2-4-2 SoCon) – stand in the way of Mercer (11-5-0, 6-2-0) earning its second SoCon regular season title since joining the league in 2014. The Bears own sole possession of first place with 18 points, sitting ahead of ETSU (17 points) and UNCG (15), both of which face one another on Tuesday as well. Mercer and ETSU will square off Saturday at Bear Field in the season finale.

The Paladins played a key role in how multiple scenarios may unfold during the final week as they played ETSU to a 0-0 draw in Johnson City, Tennessee on Saturday. The draw, complimented with Mercer's 5-0 victory over VMI on the same day, vaulted the Bears to the top of the tables.

A win in both matches this week would outright clinch the regular season title for the Bears. A draw or loss in either match leaves the door open for a multitude of scenarios. Should Mercer win Tuesday at Furman, the Bears would clinch at least a share of the SoCon regular season title should ETSU draw or lose against UNCG the same evening.

TUESDAY'S MATCHUP
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 25 | 7 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (11-5-0, 6-2-0 SoCon) at Furman (6-6-3, 2-4-2 SoCon)
Location: Greenville, S.C. | Stone Soccer Stadium
Live Stats: FurmanPaladins.com/livestats
Watch: SoCon Digital Network | SDN
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_MSoccer

SERIES HISTORY
Mercer is 5-4-2 all-time against the Paladins, including a 2-2-0 mark dating back to the beginning of last season. The Bears earned a 2-1 victory in extra time over Furman on Oct. 11 at Bear Field as Will Bagrou headed in the game-winner in the 96th minute on an assist from Ian and Conner Antley.

NOTABLES

Mercer continues to be the lone SoCon team with double-digit wins (11).
Mercer is one of two SoCon teams with a winning record (4-3) on the road this season, joining UNCG (4-3-1).
Will Bagrou's two-goal performance against VMI pushed him into a tie for second among SoCon players in goals scored (8) and points (18). Two other Bears – Conner Antley and Max Poore – are tied for sixth in goals scored (4) and are sixth and eighth, respectively, in points (13 and 10).
Jordan Duru is in a four-way tie for first place among conference players with three game-winning goals.
Goalkeeper Jeremy Booth has notched three clean sheets and ranks second in the SoCon in goals against average (1.06 per game.
Mercer has six of the 10 fastest goals scored by SoCon players this year, including the top-four by Bagrou (0:26, 1:30), five of the 10 fastest goals scored by SoCon players this year, including the top-three by Bagrou (0:26, 1:30), Jake Mezei (1:26) and Conner Antley (1:32). Mezei joined the ranks with his match-opening score Saturday.

SCOUTING THE PALADINS
Furman is 1-1-1 since falling to Mercer in Macon earlier this month, having defeated VMI, 3-2, before dropping another 3-2 decision to UNCG and drawing with ETSU, 0-0. Paladin senior Lewis Hawke leads the SoCon in goals scored (9) and points (20) and has netted four of Furman's last five goals over the last three matches.

The Paladins are still able to host a first round match in the SoCon Tournament, but will need a victory against Mercer as well as a draw between VMI (0-14-0, 0-8-0) and Wofford (9-6-0, 4-4-0) on Tuesday.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's Soccer, please follow the Bears on social media at @Mercer_MSoccer (Twitter) and /MercerMSoccer (Facebook) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.