Men's Soccer Advances To Southern Conference Championship

Sunday, November 5

Johnson City, Tenn.

3:00 PM

Mercer University

6-6-8, 1-3-2

East Tennessee State

9-5-3, 4-0-1

Mercer

ETSU

Men's Soccer Advances To Southern Conference Championship

11/5/2023 6:23:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – For the seventh time in 10 years, the Mercer Men's Soccer team is moving onto the Southern Conference Championship following a 4-3 penalty kick victory over top-seeded East Tennessee State in the semifinals at Summer-Taylors Stadium in Johnson City, Tenn.

Mercer moves to 6-5-8 on the season, while ETSU moves to 9-5-3. The first 20 minutes of the match would see a back and forth game between the Bears and the Bucs. However, ETSU would strike first in the 30th minute and would finish the first half leading 1-0.

The Bear's relentless pressure in the second half would prove to be the difference maker. Mercer continued to possess the ball in the Bucs half for the first 20 minutes of the second half until they were able to break the Bucs' defense in the 80th minute and find their equalizing goal. Dylan Gaither would whip a corner kick into the back post of the goal where Sekou Agard would find the top right corner of the net. The Bears continued to push forward throughout the second half, but were unable to find the game-winning goal before the final whistle. In the first overtime, ETSU and Mercer would continue to battle, but no one was able to find the back of the net. In the second overtime, both Mercer and ETSU would have a shot opportunities, but none were on target.

ETSU careened its first penalty kick off of the crossbar, while the Bears got three-straight scores from Omar Hernandez, Carlos Santamaria and Dylan Gaither. Trevor McMullen made a big save on the hosts' fourth attempt of the shootout and set up the visitors for the win, but Mercer missed its next two kicks to force the penalty kick shootout into sudden death mode. McMullen came up with another big save in the sixth round, and junior Grant Hampton followed by burying the difference maker.

The Bears will make the trip to Greenville, S.C., to battle Furman in the Southern Conference Championship on Sunday.

SCORING SUMMARY
30'	GOAL By ETSU
80'	GOAL By Mercer Sekou Agard, assisted by Dylan Gaither

TOP BEARS

+ Sekou scored his second goal against ETSU this season
+ Barzee Blama, Omar Hernandez, and Kadeem Agard led the Bears in shots on goal with two
+ Nick Wanzer, Sekou Agard, and William Pondeca would play 110 minutes

NOTABLES

+ Trevor McMullen had two saves on the afternoon.
+ The Bears had 10 corners to the Bucs two.
+ The Bears had 16 shots on goal, including nine on target.

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