Mercer, ETSU to Play for SoCon Regular Season Title

Saturday, October 29

Macon, Ga.

7 PM

Mercer University

ETSU

Mercer, ETSU to Play for SoCon Regular Season Title

10/28/2016 3:39:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Watch ESPN Live Stats

The Bears can clinch with win, draw Saturday

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – It all comes down to this one. With nine matches of league play in the rearview, Mercer and ETSU will meet in the regular season finale Saturday to decide the 2016 Southern Conference regular season champion.

The match will start at 7 p.m. at Bear Field and be carried live on ESPN3. Mercer (12-5-0, 7-2-0 SoCon) owns a one-point lead over ETSU (10-4-2, 6-1-2) in the SoCon tables entering the match and can clinch the regular season title with a win or a draw. Both teams earned wins Tuesday to guarantee first-round byes in the SoCon Tournament.

There's no shortage of storylines: Saturday's match will feature six of the SoCon's top 10 individual points leaders; two of the top three goal scorers in Mercer's Will Bagrou and ETSU's Fletcher Ekern; and the SoCon's top two goalies, statistically, in Mercer's Jeremy Booth and ETSU's Jonny Sutherland.

SATURDAY'S MATCHUP
Date: Saturday, Oct. 29 | 7 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (12-5-0, 7-2-0 SoCon) vs. ETSU (10-4-2, 6-1-2 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Bear Field
Broadcast: ESPN3 | Watch ESPN3
Talent: Todd Wilson (play-by-play) | Kristin Banks (sideline)
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_MSoccer
Promotion: First 150 students receive a free official Mercer Men's Soccer T-Shirt

SERIES HISTORY | LAST MEETING
Mercer leads ETSU 7-3-2 in the all-time series despite falling, 2-0, in the programs' first meeting of the season on Oct. 1 in Johnson City, Tennessee. Prior to the loss, Mercer had won four straight matches against the Bucs dating back to the start of the 2014 season.

ETSU sealed its victory over Mercer earlier in the year when Cameron Woodfin found the net off of a rebound to break a scoreless tie in the 82nd minute. The Bucs added an insurance goal with less than a minute left to complete the 2-0 win. Mercer finished the match with 15 shots – 14 of which came in the first half – but couldn't execute en route to being held scoreless for only the third time all year.

NOTABLES

The Bears are seeking their second regular-season title since joining the league in 2014.
Bear Field has proved to be a strong advantage this year for Mercer. The team is 6-1 overall and 4-0 in SoCon play on its home turf. All four of ETSU's losses have come on the road.
Mercer received votes in this week's national rankings as announced by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Bears received one vote and are the only SoCon team to receive a vote in the organization's ninth poll of the season.
ETSU and Mercer are the conference's top teams in the most recent RPI. The Bucs are 43rd with Mercer not far behind at 48th.
Senior midfielder Jordan Duru earned SoCon Player of the Week honors Tuesday for his four-point output in Mercer's two matches last week. He notched a game-winning goal against Wofford before adding a pair of assists against VMI.
Duru has three game-winning goals this season, tying him with a pair of ETSU players for the most among SoCon players.
Goalkeeper Jeremy Booth has four clean sheets this season and ranks second – behind ETSU's Sutherland – in goals against average (1.00). Booth additionally ranks second behind Sutherland in save percentage (.746).
Will Bagrou is tied for the league-lead in points (20) and is tied for second in goals scored (8). The junior forward assisted on Mercer's lone goal Tuesday against Furman and scored twice against VMI last Saturday.
Conner Antley and Max Poore join Bagrou among the league's top eight points leaders with 13 and 10, respectively. Each player has four goals apiece.
Mercer strikes early and often. The Bears are responsible for five of the 10 fastest goals by conference players this season, including the top four. Bagrou (0:26, 1:30), Jake Mezei (1:26) and Conner Antley (1:32) own the four fastest scores.
Seven Bears have recorded at least five points this season. Five of those players have notched multiple goals as well.
Mercer leads the league in total goals (29) and total assists (29).

SCOUTING THE BUCS
ETSU hasn't lost in nearly a month, going 5-0-1 in SoCon play since a 1-0 loss at Wofford on Oct. 4. The Bucs have outscored opponents 15-5 in those six matches, including seven scores from Ekern during the span.

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.