Bears Travel To Jacksonville For Road Test Against North Florida

MACON – The Mercer men's soccer team will hit the road for the first time this season to compete against North Florida (0-1) on Sunday evening at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

MATCH INFO
Date | Time: Sunday, August 23 | 7:00 p.m. ET
Opponent: North Florida (0-1-0, 0-0-0 ASUN)
Location: Hodges Stadium | Jacksonville, Fla. | Tickets
Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: Live Stats
Live Updates: X: @Mercer_MSoccer | Instagram: @mercermsoccer

SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series leans in favor of North Florida as Mercer is 6-9-2 against the Ospreys. The two programs have competed against each other every season since 2018. The Bears fell to UNF last season, 1-0, at Betts Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT
Mercer dropped the season opener to Florida Atlantic this past Thursday at Betts Stadium. The Owls built an early 2-0 lead and outlasted nine unanswered shots in the first half to fend off the Bears before finding a third goal late in the second half.

Midfielders Will Taylor and Anthony Herrera led the Bears with three shots apiece. Senior goalkeeper Henry Hampshaw saved three shots in the second half of Thursday's opener and senior defender AJ Pama completed all 90 minutes and fired one of the Bears' two shots on goal in his Mercer debut.

SCOUTING THE OSPREYS
North Florida comes into Sunday's contest searching for its first result of the season after dropping its season opener to South Carolina, 4-1, this past Thursday. Despite the Gamecocks earning an early lead, the Ospreys found the equalizer in the 37th minute. South Carolina scored the go-ahead goal in the 54th minute before tacking on two more in the 66th.

Heading into the 2026 season, North Florida was picked to win the ASUN in the preseason coaches' poll. In addition, seven Ospreys received Preseason All-ASUN honors with senior midfielder Anton Khelil being named the Preseason Player of the Year, senior defender Paul Schacherer being voted the Preseason Defender of the Year and fifth-year goalkeeper Luciano Natoli being chosen as the Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. Geraldo Neto, Kaiss Mansouri, Tyler Prebenda and Rafa Rios round out the remainder of the preseason selections.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 23 at Hodges Stadium. Tickets are available here. Sunday's match is set to be broadcast on ESPN+. You can follow along live here or by following us on socials: X: @Mercer_MSoccer | Instagram: @mercermsoccer.

Bears Travel To Jacksonville For Road Test Against North Florida

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Players Mentioned

Henry Hampshaw

Anthony Herrera

AJ Pama

Will Taylor

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