Tuesday, October 4
Macon, Ga.
7 PM
Mercer University
7-4-0, 2-1-0SoCon
2
vs
1
UNCG
6-3-2, 2-1-0SoCon
1
2
F
UNCG
0
1
1
Mercer
2
0
2
Team Stats
UNCG
MER
Goals
1
2
Shots
16
11
Shots on Goal
7
5
Saves
3
6
Corners
6
1
Fouls
9
11
Scoring Plays
Conner Antley (2)
Assisted By: Trenton Whitely
Header into goal off corner kick
1:32
Trenton Whitely (1)
Assisted By: Nickolas Tripodi
From 5 feet out, off cross-field pass
15:10
Alexander Lewis
Assisted By: Matteo Busio
Bottom-right corner, following through b
86:45
Game Leaders
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
1
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
MF
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's SoccerF/MF
/ Men's SoccerMF/D
/ Men's Soccer
Bears Top League-Leading Spartans, 2-1
10/4/2016 10:03:00 PM | Men's Soccer
MACON, Ga. – Mercer vaulted itself to the top of the Southern Conference Tables Tuesday evening as Conner Antley scored 92 seconds into the match and the Bears never trailed or were tied in a 2-1 win over UNCG.
The win and subsequent three points forced a three-way tie at the top of the SoCon Tables between Mercer, UNCG and Wofford with the Bears holding the tiebreaker over the other two in head-to-head match-ups.
Credit Antley's quick score and Jeremy Booth's five saves to help Mercer (7-4-0, 2-1-0 SoCon) in the win while handing UNCG (6-3-2, 2-1-0 SoCon) its first conference loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Conner Antley sent a header into the net off a Trenton Whitely corner kick just 92 seconds into the match, giving the Bears a quick 1-0 lead. Less than 14 minutes later, Whitely then netted a goal of his own, scoring from five feet out on a long cross-field pass from Nickolas Tripodi.
UNCG's lone goal came in the 87th minute as Alexander Lewis scored as he sent the ball into the bottom right corner off a pass from Matteo Busio.
STAT OF THE MATCH
92 seconds. That's how quickly Conner Antley struck to give Mercer the 1-0 lead. And if that sounds familiar it is because it is the third time this season Mercer has scored inside of the two-minute mark (Will Bagrou has scored 26 seconds in and 90 seconds in). The Bears are the only Southern Conference team to have netted a goal inside of the 10-minute mark this season.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Goalkeeper Jeremy Booth was simply masterful in goal Tuesday evening. While he had one he wished he could have back, his six saves were quite impressive. Of those six saves, four came in the second half. Booth's performance sealed the win for Mercer.
QUOTING BRAD RUZZO
Thoughts on the 2-1 win over UNCG:
"We have a tremendous amount of respect for UNC Greensboro; they've been the top team in the last year and this year to date. They're a quality, well-coached team and we knew they were going to come after us in that second half when we were up two goals. We probably sat in way too much, to be honest with you, and we're going to have to work on that.
"In saying that, we had a couple opportunities in the second half to maybe stick the third goal and end the game but we weren't able to do it. Unfortunately, we gave up that goal late. It was a little bit of an error on ourselves but UNCG was sending a lot of numbers forward and we just didn't deal with it very well."
On another early goal for Mercer at Bear Field:
"Our team brings a tremendous amount of energy and excitement to play at home in front of a great crowd. They knew the opposition and what we have to face in this league, in particular with UNC Greensboro. If we didn't come out fast, they were going to come out fast. It was great that we got that goal."
On Conner Antley stepping up despite not being 100 percent:
"He's obviously a key member to this group along with a bunch of other guys, but Conner has been a warrior for us. We've asked him to play a couple different positions and he's taken it on as a leader in this group to do his role and do it very, very well. I'm definitely proud of him just gutting through it tonight, because he didn't feel well. You need that with your upperclassmen to get through these games."
On Jeremy Booth's performance:
"He played like the goalkeeper he is tonight, to be honest with you. He came up with two big-time saves tonight to keep us at 2-0 before UNCG scored that last goal. We expect that from him. He's had a couple mistakes recently and he's been angry at himself and worked on it in training. I'm proud of his effort tonight."
HOW TO 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.
The win and subsequent three points forced a three-way tie at the top of the SoCon Tables between Mercer, UNCG and Wofford with the Bears holding the tiebreaker over the other two in head-to-head match-ups.
Credit Antley's quick score and Jeremy Booth's five saves to help Mercer (7-4-0, 2-1-0 SoCon) in the win while handing UNCG (6-3-2, 2-1-0 SoCon) its first conference loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Conner Antley sent a header into the net off a Trenton Whitely corner kick just 92 seconds into the match, giving the Bears a quick 1-0 lead. Less than 14 minutes later, Whitely then netted a goal of his own, scoring from five feet out on a long cross-field pass from Nickolas Tripodi.
UNCG's lone goal came in the 87th minute as Alexander Lewis scored as he sent the ball into the bottom right corner off a pass from Matteo Busio.
STAT OF THE MATCH
92 seconds. That's how quickly Conner Antley struck to give Mercer the 1-0 lead. And if that sounds familiar it is because it is the third time this season Mercer has scored inside of the two-minute mark (Will Bagrou has scored 26 seconds in and 90 seconds in). The Bears are the only Southern Conference team to have netted a goal inside of the 10-minute mark this season.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Goalkeeper Jeremy Booth was simply masterful in goal Tuesday evening. While he had one he wished he could have back, his six saves were quite impressive. Of those six saves, four came in the second half. Booth's performance sealed the win for Mercer.
QUOTING BRAD RUZZO
Thoughts on the 2-1 win over UNCG:
"We have a tremendous amount of respect for UNC Greensboro; they've been the top team in the last year and this year to date. They're a quality, well-coached team and we knew they were going to come after us in that second half when we were up two goals. We probably sat in way too much, to be honest with you, and we're going to have to work on that.
"In saying that, we had a couple opportunities in the second half to maybe stick the third goal and end the game but we weren't able to do it. Unfortunately, we gave up that goal late. It was a little bit of an error on ourselves but UNCG was sending a lot of numbers forward and we just didn't deal with it very well."
On another early goal for Mercer at Bear Field:
"Our team brings a tremendous amount of energy and excitement to play at home in front of a great crowd. They knew the opposition and what we have to face in this league, in particular with UNC Greensboro. If we didn't come out fast, they were going to come out fast. It was great that we got that goal."
On Conner Antley stepping up despite not being 100 percent:
"He's obviously a key member to this group along with a bunch of other guys, but Conner has been a warrior for us. We've asked him to play a couple different positions and he's taken it on as a leader in this group to do his role and do it very, very well. I'm definitely proud of him just gutting through it tonight, because he didn't feel well. You need that with your upperclassmen to get through these games."
On Jeremy Booth's performance:
"He played like the goalkeeper he is tonight, to be honest with you. He came up with two big-time saves tonight to keep us at 2-0 before UNCG scored that last goal. We expect that from him. He's had a couple mistakes recently and he's been angry at himself and worked on it in training. I'm proud of his effort tonight."
HOW TO 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.
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