Mercer 1, ETSU 0
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men’s soccer team defeated ETSU, 1-0, on Saturday night at Bear Field and clinched the Southern Conference regular-season title. The SoCon championship is the first for any Mercer team since the school joined the league earlier this year.
In a story that almost writes itself, senior defender Ashani Samuels scored Mercer’s only goal on Senior Night. Samuels headed the ball into the net after Trenton Whitely found him from a corner kick in the 12th minute.
Fellow senior Greg Ranjitsingh made six saves in goal and tallied his ninth shutout of the season. Ranjitsingh and the Mercer defense lead the SoCon in shutouts this year.
The Bears outshot the Bucs, 16-10, but ETSU won the corner kick count, 3-2.
Mercer also secured a first-round bye and the No. 1 seed in the SoCon tournament. The Bears will play on Thursday, Nov. 13, and will face the winner of the Nov. 8 quarterfinal match between No. 4 seed UNCG and No. 5 seed ETSU.
Before Mercer heads to the SoCon tournament, it will wrap up regular-season play on Monday, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m. when it hosts North Florida at Bear Field.
Wofford 1, Furman 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford Terriers men’s soccer team finished the regular season with a perfect home record, battling for a hard-fought, 1-0, victory over the Furman Paladins on Saturday night at Snyder Field.
With the Terriers’ win over Furman, Wofford is locked into the No. 2 seed heading into the Southern Conference tournament after Mercer’s win over ETSU crowned the Bears regular-season champions. The Wofford men’s team earned a 12-day break with the win, with a first-round bye before playing on Nov. 13 in the SoCon semifinals.
Wofford’s win marks a perfect season at home, with a 7-0-0 home record for the first time in program history. Wofford has had three seasons resulting in one loss at home before this year, most recently during last year’s campaign. In the last 15 home matches, the Terriers have gone 14-1.
Senior midfielder Nick Orton scored his only goal of the regular season when it mattered the most. The Terriers’ break began with a long pass from junior Connor Bauknight finding classmate Connor Copeland on the left side of the 18-yard box. Copeland settled the ball before passing it into Orton in the center. Orton shielded off a defender, spun and struck the ball with his right foot, placing it in the top right corner past Furman’s Sven Lissek, who was frozen in the middle of the goal.
The victory over Furman continued a dominant stretch for Wofford in the series, with the Terriers now winning five straight matches against the Paladins.
The Terriers were outshot by the Paladins in the match, 13-10, with Furman striking five shots on goal, while Wofford placed four on frame. The match was extremely physical, with 36 fouls between both sides. Five yellow cards were administered in the match. Furman’s Eric Steber was given a yellow, along with Wofford’s Charlie Keeley, Pierce Verchick, Kevin Hady and Carlos Dominguez-Gonzalez.
The game started with both sides feeling one another out while trying to pull ahead. Furman nearly earned a goal early on, with its best look for the match in the 14th minute. Impressive goalkeeping from sophomore Joe Wichmann kept the game level. Furman’s Lewis Hawke fired off a rebounded shot with his left foot, launching the ball toward the top right corner, where Wichmann leapt up, deflecting the ball out for one of his five saves of the night. Wichmann is now 4-0-0 this season with three shutouts under his belt.
The Terriers will play next in Greensboro, N.C., where they take on the winner of No. 3 seed Furman vs. No. 6 seed VMI. The match will be played at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
UNCG 3, VMI 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men’s soccer team closed out the regular season with a dominating 3-1 Southern Conference victory over visiting VMI on a brisk Saturday night on Homecoming and Senior Night at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in front of 1,029 fans.
The victory improved the Spartans to 5-4-1 in SoCon play as they finished in a tie for third place in the regular-season standings with Furman. UNCG will be the fourth seed in the upcoming SoCon tournament and will host fifth-seeded ETSU next Saturday in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m.
Prior to the game, the Spartans honored eight seniors during Senior Day festivities. UNCG recognized Davis Griffin, Aaron Reifschneider, Dustin Gamradt, Nathan Bunch, Justin Jones, Jake Fields, Austin Miller and Stephen Moffitt.
The Spartans completed the season-series sweep of the Keydets and improves to 10-0-0 all-time against VMI as they outshot the Keydets 24-7 in the victory. UNCG also held a dominating 11-0 edge in corner kicks, including eight in the second half.
The Spartans came out of the gate quickly, generating chances from the start. In the 11th minute, junior forward Jacques Francois made a run down the right-hand side. Francois beat a couple of VMI defenders and ripped a shot from 15 yards out that went past Keydet goalkeeper Alex Guerra but wide of the far post.
Just a minute later, freshman Moises Gonzalez was sent in alone by a pass from Eric Gunnarsson. Gonzalez brought the ball down and ripped a shot from 10 yards out but Guerra was able to get just enough of the shot to keep it out of the goal.
UNCG broke through in the 18th minute of play as Reifschneider started his strong Senior Night with the first of his two assists. Reifschneider sent a long ball over the back line of the VMI defense. Sophomore Nicholas Downs brought the ball down and was in alone on goal. Downs beat Guerra for his first career regular-season goal and the 1-0 lead.
The Spartans came within inches of taking a two-goal lead in the 28th minute of action. Gunnarsson and Francois combined in the box on a give-and-go that sprung Gunnarsson into space from 10 yards out, but Guerra saved his shot. VMI had its best chance in the waning minutes of the first half as Griffin misplayed a back pass and Blake McCauley jumped on the loose ball but his shot went wide of the goal.
The Spartans took a 2-0 lead in the 74th minute of action as their pressure finally broke the VMI defense. Francois made a run down the end line and sent a cross into the box, where Gunnarsson ripped a shot form 15 yards out. Guerra made the initial save and the rebound came right back to Gunnarsson. He dropped the ball off to the left of goal, where redshirt sophomore forward Christopher Reingen quickly slotted the ball into the back of the net for his team-leading fourth goal of the year.
UNCG was not done offensively, as it took a 3-0 lead with a goal in the 80th minute of play. Reifschneider again played a large part in the goal as this time he sent a long ball into the box that put Gunnarsson in alone on goal. Gunnarsson placed the ball low past Guerra for his second career goal, both of which have come against VMI.
The Keydets spoiled the Spartans’ shutout attempt against the senior goalkeeping duo of Griffin and Moffitt in the 86th minute. Dan Geyer gained possession in the midfield and sent a through ball into the box, where Travis Borkey was able to beat Moffitt with the goal to make it a 3-1 contest.
Reingen finished the game with six shots in the victory for the Spartans, while Gunnarsson added four shots as he moved up to the midfield position this game. Griffin picked up his first career victory playing the first half, while Moffitt played the second half and posted two saves in his first action of the season.