Men’s Soccer Wins SoCon Tournament

Sunday, November 17

Greensboro, N.C.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

14-6-0 (3-3-0)

UNCG

9-9-1 (5-1-0)

Mercer

UNC Greensboro

11/17/2019 9:32:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

The Bears claim its third SoCon Tournament Title in four years

By: Travis Rae

GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the third time in four years, the Mercer men's soccer team is the Southern Conference Tournament Champions. The Bears defeated the Spartans of UNCG, 1-0, on Sunday evening to take home the trophy.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bears looked to strike early but they could not get a shot on goal. Once the Spartans offense started to click, they had 11 shots in the first half and two of them were on goal. JR DeRose came up with two huge saves keeping the game scoreless heading to halftime.

👀 DeRose with the SAVE 🚫

37:42 | 🐻 0, 🛡 0#RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/VgumzuGrzz
— Mercer M-Soccer (@Mercer_MSoccer) November 17, 2019

Less than 20 minutes into the second half of the contest, Trevor Martineau intercepted a pass and had a breakaway for the Bears. Martineau beat the goalie and put the Bears ahead, 1-0, in the 62^nd minute of the game.

✔ out the 1️⃣st goal of the SoCon Championship Match#RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/KuWiHHp9t3
— Mercer M-Soccer (@Mercer_MSoccer) November 18, 2019

UNCG had a great scoring chance eight minutes after the goal when Matthew Skinner took a shot that hit the crossbar and Casey Penland followed with a shot wide of goal. The Spartans had two more shots on goal that JR saved as he recorded his sixth shutout of the season. The Bears claimed a 1-0 victory to earn the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament.

Following the contest, JR DeRose, Trevor Martineau, Leo Toledo Jr., and Roberto Arteaga were named to the 2019 SoCon All-Tournament Team. DeRose was also named the SoCon Tournament MVP. DeRose became the second Bear to earn this award. Jeremy Booth claimed the honors in 2016 and 2017. George Iakovidis was named the Pinnacle Award winner.

NOTABLES

This is the third straight season the Bears and Spartans have met in the SoCon Conference Tournament. Back in 2017, both teams met and Mercer advanced on PKs. Last season UNCG knocked out top seed Mercer in the semifinals. This year the Bears came away with a 1-0 victory.
Trevor Martineau scored his 14th goal of the season and first since Nov. 8 against Wofford.
The Bears have won three of the last four SoCon Tournaments. Mercer won the 2016, 2017 and 2019 SoCon Tournament Championship.
Mercer defeated UNCG, 1-0, to win the 2019 SoCon Tournament. The last time the Bears won the SoCon Tournament, the Bears defeated UNCG in penalty kicks.
Like the 2017 SoCon Tournament, the Bears entered as the fourth seed and defeated the fifth seed, top seed and second seed in the title game. Both times in the championship, the Bears defeated UNCG.
With the win for the Bears, they are now tied for the program record for wins in a single season with 14. The last time they won 14 games in a season was during the 2014 season.
The Bears clinched its fourth trip to the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. The Bears went in 2001, 2016, 2017 and now 2019.

UP NEXT
With the win, the Bears head to the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament as the SoCons automatic bid. The NCAA Men's Soccer Selection Show is set for Monday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. ET on NCAA.com. The Bears will have a watch party for at 1 p.m. at Margaritas in Mercer Village to see whom the Bears will face in the NCAA Tournament.

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