Box Score

Greensboro, NC - The UNC Greensboro men's soccer team defeated Mercer Sunday afternoon, 3-1, in the 2003 adidas/Spartan Classic at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. The victory marked UNCG head coach Michael Parker's 300th as a Spartan. In the day's opening match, #3 North Carolina slipped past Kentucky, 2-1.

"The 300 wins are nice, but it is really just a product of time," Parker said. "I told our team at the half to simply stick to your task. I felt all along that we could wear them (Mercer) down and that is exactly what we did. It was a good team effort today, and I am proud of our performance."

UNCG (6-3-2) got on the board first in the second half of play, when Scott Jones sent a pass across the field to Egill Atlason who promptly notched his third goal of the season on a one-timer.

The Spartans then extended their lead to 2-0 when Randi Patterson's shot went off the post and was corralled by Jones, who banged it in the bottom left corner of the net at the 66:09 mark. The goal was Jones' fifth of the campaign. Just 34 seconds later, James Goodman beat his defender on the right side and chipped in his fourth goal of the season to give the Spartans a commanding 3-0 advantage.

Mercer (5-6-0) managed to get on the score board when Ramiro Canovas accepted a cross from David Gussio and lifted it above UNCG's reserve keeper Tristan Tulloch.

In the day's opener, the #3 North Carolina Tar Heels slipped past Kentucky, 2-1. The Wildcats and Tar Heels played an even first half that ended tied, 0-0.

Tim Merritt put Carolina on the board first when he scored in the 59th minute of the game from 10 yards out. Kentucky evened the match off Olli Lehtimaki's header in the 62nd minute. The Tar Heels scored what proved to be the game-winner in the 75th minute when Ray Fumo scored on a penalty kick.

North Carolina's Marcus Storey was named the classic's Offensive MVP, while Kentucky's Brandon Stewart earned the classic's Defensive MVP.

UNCG returns to the pitch against Tuesday night at Appalachian State in a Southern Conference match. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 pm.