Bears Back at Betts Stadium for SoCon Opener

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's soccer team starts Southern Conference play this Saturday as the Bears take on the UNCG Spartans at home in Betts Stadium for a 2 p.m. kickoff.

Bear Necessities
Date | Time: Saturday, March 13 | 2 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (2-6-0) vs UNCG (4-1-0)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Betts Stadium
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_MSoccer

Series History | Last Meeting
Mercer's all-time record against UNCG is 6-10-1. The last meeting between the Bears and the Spartans was in the Southern Conference Tournament championship match on Nov. 17, 2019. The Bears clinched a 1-0 victory in a tightly contested match to claim their fifth Southern Conference title in the last six seasons. Trevor Martineau scored the game's lone goal in the 62nd minute, while JR DeRose posted a four-save shutout.

Notables

Midfielder Dylan Gaither leads the team in points with seven courtesy of three goals and an assist so far this season.
Junior forward Dawson Gideon has two goals and one assist for a total of five points this season.
Sophomore defender Andrew Anyafo has played all eight games this season picking up one assist.
As a team, the Bears are averaging more than five shots on goal per game.

Scouting the Spartans
The Spartans are 4-1 this season having lost their first game of 2021 to UNCW, 2-0, back on Feb. 6. UNCG enters Saturday's contest on a four-match winning streak after defeating Belmont Abbey (4-1), Gardner-Webb (3-0), Elon (2-0) and Longwood (2-1). Their top goal-scorer is sophomore Mani Austmann with two goals on the season. Austmann found the net in wins versus Elon and Longwood from the striker position. Also among the team leaders in points is freshman forward Theo Collomb with a goal versus Longwood as well as an assist against Gardner-Webb. UNCG has started two different goalies this season, Brendan Pulley and Niclas Wild, with each of them playing two games apiece. Both Pulley and Wild have one shutout this season.

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.

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Players Mentioned

JR DeRose

Trevor Martineau

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