Women’s Soccer Faces Samford in SoCon Semifinals

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer women's soccer team returns to the Southern Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2016 on Friday afternoon when they take on Samford at the UNCG Soccer Complex. The Bears and Bulldogs kickoff at 4 p.m.

FRIDAY'S MATCHUP
Date | Time: Friday, Nov. 8 | 4 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (16-3-0, 7-2-0 SoCon) vs Samford (11-3-5, 7-1-1 SoCon)
Location: Greensboro, N.C. | UNCG Soccer Complex
Live Stats: UNCG Statbroadcast
Watch: ESPN+
Twitter Updates: @MercerWSoccer

SERIES HISTORY | LAST MEETING
Against Samford, Mercer is 3-11-4 all-time. This season the Bears defeated the Bulldogs, 1-0, with a goal in the 88^th minute. Amaya Evans scored the winning goal. The win snapped a 30 match SoCon unbeaten streak. Last year, the Bears and Bulldogs tied 2-2.

NOTABLES

With the win over Furman, Head Coach Tony Economopoulos won his 100^th career match as a head coach.
On Tuesday, Nicole Icen was named the SoCon Player of the Year. She is the first Bear to earn this honor in the SoCon. Mirela Ninic was named the ASUN Player of the Year during the 1997 and 1998 season.
Tony Economopoulos was named SoCon Coach of the Year. He is the first Mercer Coach to earn this award in the SoCon. Grant Serafy won the award in 2007 and 2008 when the Bears were a member of the ASUN.
With the win over Furman last Sunday, the Bears finished 7-2 in the SoCon. They finished tied for third in the conference. Mercer was the only SoCon team to defeat both Samford and Furman this season.
This season the Bears have won 16 games. Mercer is one of six teams to win 16 or more games this season. Other teams to accomplish this feat are No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 North Carolina, and No. 1 BYU.
In the latest RPI, the Bears were ranked 60^th. This is the highest RPI ranking for the Bears in program history.
The Bears advanced to the SoCon Semifinals with a 1-0 double-overtime victory over fifth seed Western Carolina. Abigail Zoeller sent a free kick into the box and Ally Fordham headed the ball home for the win. This is the first time since 2016 that the Bears have advanced to the Semifinals.
This season, junior Jordyn Ebert has recorded 95 saves, the second most in the SoCon. The 95 saves is a single-season career-high. She has 250 career saves, which is the fourth most in Mercer history.
Jordyn Ebert has recorded 14 shutouts in her career at Mercer. The 14 career shutouts are tied for the third-most in program history. She is six shutouts away from tying for the career record, which is held by Maggie Cropp, who has 20. Cropp played for the Bears from 2012 to 2015.
Mercer is averaging 7.1 corner kicks per match this season, the tops in the SoCon. The 7.1 corner kicks per game ranks 12^th in the nation. Against ETSU this season, the Bears attempted 15 corner kicks in the match.
Freshman Nicole Icen has tallied a team-high 23 points. The 23 points it tied for the most in the SoCon. Icen is four points away from tying for 10^th on for points in a single season for Mercer.
Abigail Zoeller leads the Bears and the SoCon in assists. Zoeller has 11 assists this season. For her career at Mercer, Zoeller has 19 assists, which is fifth all-time. She is two assists away from tying with Nancy Fallin for most assists in a career at Mercer.
Mercer was the lone team to beat both Samford and Furman this season, handing both the Bulldogs and Paladins their only conference losses of the season.
Mercer's 36 shots in the Gardner-Webb match are the most by the Bears since recording 37 against Alabama A&M on Aug. 31, 2014.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs enter the SoCon Semifinals with a record of 11-3-5. The Bulldogs have won its last four-game. In the last four games, the Bulldogs have outscored its opponents 13-1. The last loss for Samford came on Oct. 13 to Mercer. Samford is averaging 2.21 goals per game, while only allowing 1.00 goals per game. Freshman Taylor Yount leads the Bulldogs with 22 points and 10 goals. Kyla Reynolds follows with nine goals. Alyssa Frazier leads the Bulldogs with nine assists on the season. Samford has scored 42 goals and dished out 27 assists this season. In goal, Morgan McAslan has appeared in net for 1694 minutes and has a record of 11-3-5. She has recorded 82 saves and has a goals-against-average of 0.85. They have recorded 10 shutouts this season, including three of the last four.

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

Women’s Soccer Faces Samford in SoCon Semifinals

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Players Mentioned

Jordyn Ebert

Amaya Evans

Ally Fordham

Nicole Icen

Abigail Zoeller

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