Men’s Soccer Hits Road to Battle ETSU

Saturday, October 1

Johnson City, Tenn.

7 PM

Mercer University

ETSU

Photo by: Bill Hirsh

9/30/2016 1:19:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Live Stats

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Defending your home turf during Southern Conference play is one thing, but earning a victory on the road is a whole other beast. Fortunately for Mercer, it is a task the men's soccer team has succeeded with since joining the league two years ago.

The Bears (6-3-0, 1-0-0 SoCon), who are 6-3-2 in SoCon road matches since 2014, will look to continue their success away from home against East Tennessee State (4-3-1, 0-0-1) on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in Johnson City, Tennessee. ETSU is 3-0 at home this season, outscoring opponents 6-2 overall in such matches.

SATURDAY'S MATCHUP
Location: Johnson City, Tenn. – Summers-Taylor Stadium
Schedule: Saturday, Oct. 1 – 7 p.m.
Follow Along: Live Stats
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_MSoccer

SERIES HISTORY
Mercer owns a firm advantage over ETSU in the programs' all-time series, leading it 7-2-2 dating back to the Buccaneers' first season of men's soccer in 2008. The Bears are 4-0 against the Buccaneers over the last two seasons and haven't allowed a single goal in those four matches, outscoring them 6-0. In the most recent meeting a year ago, Mercer blanked ETSU 3-0 at Bear Field behind a pair of goals from Max Poore.

NOTABLES

Mercer's 31 wins recorded since the start of the 2014 season when the Bears joined the SoCon is the most of any conference program.
Joined by Furman (5-2-2) and UNCG (5-2-2), Mercer is in a three-way tie for the best overall win percentage of SoCon teams (.667).
It'll be tough to argue against Will Bagrou being the most electric player on the pitch Saturday. The forward has the two fastest goals in the SoCon this year at 26 and 90 seconds.
Three Bears have multiple goals this year: Bagrou (five); Conner Antley (two); and Max Poore (two). Antley is the lone Mercer player with multiple assists (three).
Goalkeeper Jeremy Booth is tied for second among SoCon keepers in total saves with 26, good for an average of 3.25 per match. He owns two of Mercer's three clean sheets.
Bagrou trails only UNCG's Damieon Thomas for the league-lead in both points and goals.

SCOUTING ETSU
Entering Saturday's match, ETSU is a SoCon-best 35th in the latest rating percentage index (RPI) poll, leading Mercer, which is 71st and second among league teams. The Buccaneers have faced three top-15 RPI teams so far, including former No. 1 North Carolina which ETSU defeated 1-0 in extra time.

Following ETSU's scoreless draw with Furman in Greenville, South Carolina on Tuesday, the Buccaneers haven't allowed a regulation goal to the opposition in 519 minutes (ETSU's last two losses have been in extra time to Kentucky and West Virginia). The ETSU defense is led by goalkeeper Jonny Sutherland, who has recorded four shutouts and is tied with Mercer's Booth for 26 total saves. The Buccaneers have only found the net eight times offensively though, including a pair of goals by Cameron Woodfin.

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.