Bears Set For Saturday Road Match With VMI

MACON - The Mercer men's soccer team travels to Lexington, Virginia on Saturday for a SoCon clash with VMI. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

MATCH INFO
Date | Time: Saturday, October 12 | 1 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (4-2-5 overall, 0-0-1 SoCon) vs VMI (4-5-2 overall, 0-1-0 SoCon)
Location: Lexington, Va. | Patchin Field
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: Stats
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_MSoccer

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's match marks the 19^th meeting between the Bears and Keydets. The two teams last met a year ago, a 5-1 victory for Mercer in Macon. Barzee Blama led the way for the Bears with two goals. Mercer leads the all-time series 18-0.

LAST TIME OUT
Mercer picked up a point in their first SoCon match of the season last Saturday, drawing with #21 UNC Greensboro at Betts Stadium by a score of 1-1.

The Bears struck first in the 21^st minute when Barzee Blama delivered a highlight-reel goal. Carlos Santamaria delivered a corner kick into the box that, after a touch from Nick Wanzer, found Blama. With his back turned to the goal, he struck a bicycle kick that kicked off of the right post and trickled past the goal line to put the Bears on top. Blama is now tied for the SoCon lead in goals with four.

Mercer controlled play for much of the first half, holding a 6-3 advantage in shots and a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks.

The second half of the match was highly contested, with both teams trading chances. However, the Spartans were able to break through for the equalizing goal, as Jack Birch scored from 25 yards out in the 83^rd minute.

Goalkeeper Trevor McMullen made three saves on the night for the Bears. For the match, Mercer held a 10-6 advantage in shots and a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Bears also had the edge in corner kicks at 6-2.

SCOUTING VMI
VMI enters Saturday's match with a 4-5-2 record on the season. The last time out for the Keydets came on Sunday, a 2-0 loss at ETSU in their conference opener.

Senior Grant Martin leads the Keydets with eight points on three goals and two assists. Three goalkeepers have seen time for VMI, with Zack Murphy playing the majority of the minutes. The junior holds a 1.93 goals against average and a .725 save percentage.

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Players Mentioned

Barzee Blama

Trevor McMullen

Carlos Santamaria

Nick Wanzer

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