Championship page
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship shifts to Johnson City, Tenn., and Summers-Taylor Stadium for the semifinal and final matches, beginning Friday at 3:30 p.m. Top four seeds UNCG, Furman, Mercer and ETSU will all be vying for the tournament title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
Both of Friday’s semifinal matches will air live on the SoCon Digital Network, with Jason Patterson (play-by-play) and Phil Cox (color) on the call. Sunday’s championship match, set for 1 p.m., will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with Pete Yanity handling play-by-play duties and Charlie Slagle serving as analyst.
Friday’s first semifinal will pit regular-season champion and No. 1 seed UNCG (11-5-4, 6-1-3 SoCon) against tournament host and No. 4 seed ETSU (8-6-3, 4-4-2). The Spartans, who won their eighth regular-season title, earned a bye into the semifinals, while the Bucs topped No. 5 seed Wofford 5-0 in a first-round match on Saturday, Nov. 7.
Now in its 19th season in the league, UNCG has made it to the semifinals 16 times, including this season. The Spartans will be trying to book a spot in the title match for the 11th time and first since 2011. UNCG won the last of its five tournament titles in 2010. The Bucs will be making their first semifinal appearance in their second season in the league.
The squads played to a pair of 1-1 draws during the regular season, doing so in Greensboro, N.C., on Oct. 6 and in Johnson City to close the regular season on Oct. 31. The teams have met once before in the SoCon tournament, with the Spartans taking a 2-1 win in double overtime in the first round last season. This year’s SoCon Player of the Year, Jacques Francois, scored both goals for UNCG in that contest, including the game-winner in the 104th minute.
No. 2 seed Furman (7-5-4, 6-2-2) will face No. 3 seed Mercer (11-6-2, 5-3-2) in Friday’s second semifinal, slated for 6 p.m., in a rematch of last season’s title match, won 1-0 by the Paladins. This year, Furman topped the Bears 1-0 in Macon, Ga., on Oct. 6 before the teams played to a 1-1 draw in their regular-season finales on Oct. 31 in Greenville, S.C.
Furman owns a league-record 12 tournament titles and will be making its record 24th semifinals appearance in the 28-year year history of the tournament. The Paladins are in pursuit of their 16th title-game appearance. Mercer, which is in its second season in the SoCon, won the regular season and advanced to the title match in 2014.
The winner of the tournament will earn the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. The NCAA Selection show will air on NCAA.com on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
2015 SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship
Quarterfinal Round, Saturday, Nov. 7
Campus sites (at higher seeds)
Match 1: No. 4 ETSU 5, No. 5 Wofford 0
Match 2: No. 3 Mercer 7, No. 6 VMI 0
Semifinals, Friday, Nov. 13
Johnson City, Tenn.
Match 3: No. 1 UNCG at No. 4 ETSU, 3:30 p.m. (SDN)
Match 4: No. 2 Furman vs. No. 3 Mercer, 6 p.m. (SDN)
Championship, Sunday, Nov. 15
Johnson City, Tenn.
Match 5: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
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