Who: vs. Furman
When: Sunday, November 6
Where: Greensboro, N.C. | UNCG Soccer Stadium
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Tickets: FREE
Live Stats | ESPN+
 
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 9 UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer team, who earned the top seed in the 2022 Southern Conference (SoCon) Men's Soccer Tournament hosts the fifth-seeded Furman Paladins on Sunday for a semifinal match at UNCG Soccer Stadium.   
 
The Spartans earned its ninth regular season title after defeating Wofford, 2-1, on Saturday, October 29 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This was their second-straight title and third title in four years.
 
The Spartans finished the SoCon regular season undefeated with a 4-0-1 record. This was the first time since 2004 when UNCG went 6-0-1 that the Spartans went undefeated.
 
They are also 7-0-1 at home this season, which is the first undefeated season at UNCG Soccer Stadium since 2002, when the team went 8-0.
 
Furman is entering the semifinal match as the fifth seed, after defeating the fourth-seeded Wofford Terriers, 3-2 on Friday at UNCG Soccer Stadium. The Paladins are 7-6-4 overall and 1-3-1 in SoCon play.
 
SOCON ALL-CONFERENCE

• Twelve total Spartans earned 15 SoCon All-Conference awards this year.
• Head Coach Chris Rich earned his second SoCon Coach of the Year award.
• He is the seventh coach in SoCon history to earn the honor back-to-back years.
• The 15 All-Conference honors, included J.C. Ngando being named SoCon Player of the Year.
• He is the eighth from UNCG to be named SoCon Player of the Year, as Theo Collomb earned the recognition last year.
• Niclas Wild is the second student-athlete to be named SoCon Goalkeeper of the Year back-to-back years, along with ETSU's Jonny Sutherland in 2016 and 2017.
• Ngando, Wild, Ismail El Harchi, Emmanuel Hagan, and Marco Milanese earned first team recognition.
• Steven Hernandez, Marco Afonso, Basile Marc, and Ethan Conley were selected for the second team.
• Hernandez, Sami Lachekar, Maddox Mallery, and Colton Sessoms earned All-Freshman Team honors.

RPI RANKINGS

• UNCG is No. 15 in RPI
• UNCG remains unbeaten against four teams in the top-40: Louisville (No. 8), SMU (No. 12), Clemson (No. 13), Elon (No. 30).
• UNCG is the top SoCon team in the rankings, as ETSU is next at No. 110.
• UNCG is the second school from North Carolina in the rankings as Duke is No. 4.
• UNCG is one of seven mid-major teams in the top 15 of RPI.

CLIMBING HIGH

• The Spartans climbed to No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll for its first top-10 ranking this season and they moved up to No. 3 in the South Region.
• The squad also received a No. 10 ranking from TopDrawerSoccer and College Soccer News.

MIDSEASON HONORS
Ngando & Milanese were named to the TopDrawerSoccer Midseason Top 100 list.
 
Hernandez (No. 25), Lachekar (No. 71), and Sessoms (No. 88) were named to the TopDrawerSoccer freshman college soccer player rankings.
 
AMONG THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

• 6th in won-lost-tied percentage (0.812)
• 8th in goal differential (25)
• 10th in team goals against average (0.688)
• 10th in shot accuracy (0.495)
• 16th in corner kicks per game (6.69)
• 18th in total goals (36)
• 20th in scoring offense (2.25)
• 21st in total points (105)
• 23rd in points per game (6.56)
• 23^rd in shots on goal per game (6.50)
• 26th in total assists (33)
• 26th in assists per game (2.06)

SPARTANS AMONG THE NATION

• Niclas Wild – 19th in goals against average (0.733), 47th in shutouts (5), 58th in goalie minutes played (1350:00),
• J.C. Ngando – 4th in total assists (11), 4th in assists per game (0.69), 48th in total points (19), 59th in points per game (1.19)
• Ismail El Harchi – 1^st in shot accuracy (0.667), 22nd in game-winning goals (3), 32^nd in total goals (8), 37^th in goals per game (0.53), 43^rd in shots on goal per game (1.33), 47^th in points per game (1.27), 48^th in total points (19)

WEEKLY/MONTHLY AWARDS

• UNCG swept three-straight SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honors early in the season and totaled six on the offensive side
  • Hernandez (Sept. 6)
  • Afonso (Sept. 13)
  • Ngando (Sept. 20)
  • El Harchi (Oct. 4 & Oct. 11)
  • Ngando (Oct. 25)
• The Spartans saw Wild be named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 20 and Oct. 25, Conley earned the honor on Oct. 18, and Milanese was selected for the final installment on Nov. 1.
• El Harchi also earned SoCon Offensive Player of the Month, while Milanese was selected as Defensive Player of the Month during October.
• Afonso, Hernandez, and Wild were each named to either TopDrawerSoccer or College Soccer News National Team of the Week this season.

LAST TIME OUT

• UNCG was victorious with a 2-1 win over SoCon opponent Wofford on October 29.
• With the win, the Spartans earned the SoCon regular season title, outright, after Mercer defeated ETSU, 3-2.
• UNCG received the top seed and a bye heading into the 2022 SoCon Men's Soccer Tournament.
• El Harchi scored his eighth goal of the season.
• Maycol Reyes tallied his fourth goal of the season and second game winner.
• Marc recorded his third assist of the season, the fifth of his career

SOCON PRESEASON POLL & AWARDS
UNCG was voted to take the title in the Southern Conference (SoCon) Preseason Coaches Poll after winning the 2021 Regular Season Title.
Release
 
Ngando, Hagan, Milanese, and Wild all earned Preseason All-Conference recognition.
 
SCOUTING FURMAN

• Slade Starnes was named to the All-Conference freshman team.
• Alfredo Diaz-Santillan leads the Paladins with four goals and three assists for 11 points.
• Jake Raine is second with three goals and one assist for seven points.
• Dylan Lane is second on the team with eight points.
• Ben Roberts has started in 16 games in net giving up 18 goals for 1.17 goals against.
• He has 65 saves on the year.
• As a team, Furman is leading the conference in penalty kicks (1.000) and save percentage (0.789).
• Furman has edged its opponents in saves 72-68 this season.

ALL-TIME HISTORY

• UNCG leads the all-time series 22-19-4.
• The Spartans have won three-straight games against Furman.
• Earlier this season, UNCG defeated the Paladins 5-1 on October 1 at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
• This was the fourth game this season with five goals for the Spartans.