GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer team opens The Southern Conference (SoCon) action taking on the Mercer Bears on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Betts Stadium.
 

GAME NINE: UNCG (4-1-3, 0-0-0 SoCon) at Mercer (4-2-4, 0-0-0 SoCon)
Date	Saturday, October 5, 2024
Time	7:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Macon, Ga. (Betts Stadium)
Coverage	Live Stats | ESPN+
Social Media	Twitter/X: @UNCGsoccer | Instagram: @uncgsoccer | Facebook: UNCGMensSoccer

THE SPARTANS LAST TIME OUT

• The Spartans were last in action on Tuesday afternoon at Virginia after the game was originally scheduled for Monday evening in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was postponed a day due to inclement weather.
• UNCG won the match 2-1 with goals in the 13th and 86th minutes.
• Senior Yoshiya Okawa scored the first goal with an assist from sophomore Enzo Dovlo to make it 1-0.
• Junior Daniel Longo found a loose ball in the box for the Spartans second goal to make it 2-1 late in the match.
• Redshirt sophomore Seth Wilson turned away four shots after making his eighth consecutive start. He has yet to miss any action.
• The Cavaliers won the battle in corners, 8-4, shots, 17-7, and shots on goal, 5-4.

UNCG QUICK KICKS

• UNCG is 4-1-3 overall heading into its first conference test of the season.
• The Spartans began the season facing three top-25 programs in their first seven games.
• The Spartans faced No. 16 Georgetown on the road and fell 1-0 on Aug. 30 before drawing, 0-0, at home against No. 19 Charlotte on Sept. 13 and tying No. 5 West Virginia on the road, 2-2, on Sept. 17.
• UNCG moved up one spot to No. 21 in this week's TopDrawerSoccer Men's College Soccer National Rankings.
• The Spartans have appeared in the United Soccer Coaches Poll twice this season. UNCG broke into the first poll of the regular season on Aug. 27 at No. 18 before receiving votes four weeks ago.
• Among national statistical categories, the Spartans stand within the top 20 of the country as a team when it comes to shutout percentage (18th/.500), team goals against average (19th/.750) and save percentage (16th/.813).
• Wilson ranks 13th in the country with four shutouts this season. He recently earned back-to-back shutouts on Sept. 10 vs. Longwood and Sept. 13 hosting then-No. 19 Charlotte. He also accomplished the feat to open the season. As a result, Wilson has been named The Southern Conference (SoCon) Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 27 and Sept. 17.
• Throughout the SoCon, UNCG is ranked first in corner kicks per game (5.88), goal differential (6), save percentage, scoring offense (1.50) and won-loss-tied percentage (.688).
• Dovlo leads the Spartans and is tied with Mercer's Sekou Agard for the SoCon's top spot in goals scored (4). Additionally, he leads the league in total points (9) so far through eight matches.
• Okawa leads the Spartans with three assists this season and is now second on the team with seven points after scoring in the last match. He has recorded all seven points in the last five matches.
• Ketteman ranks third on the Spartans with five points via two goals and an assist. He scored his second goal of the season on Sept. 17 at then-No. 5 West Virginia, which forced a 2-2 draw.
• Tattevin is fourth on the team with three points. He led UNCG a season ago with seven goals for 14 points.
• Senior Jack Birch, freshman Issah Haruna and Longo are each tied with one goal for two points this season.
• Junior Colton Sessoms, junior Konstantinos Georgallides and freshman Mohammed Sumaila each have one point after assisting on one of UNCG's 12 goals so far this season.
• UNCG has totaled 47 corners in eight matches, which includes 13 in the season opener against USC Upstate, marking the most corner kicks for the Blue & Gold in a single match since Nov. 7, 2021, when UNCG had 20.
• UNCG was selected to finish third in the 2024 SoCon Preseason Poll following voting completed by the league's six head coaches. UNCG received one first-place vote. Senior Basile Marc and Tattevin were named to the 11-member All-SoCon preseason team on Aug. 13.
• Head Coach Chris Rich is in his sixth season at the helm of UNCG's men's soccer program. He has guided the Spartans to a 50-29-18 (18-5-5 SoCon) record since 2019 and totaled nine or more victories in four of his first five seasons.
• Under Coach Rich, UNCG has won three SoCon Regular Season titles, won the SoCon Tournament twice and made a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances since 2019.
• The Spartans' roster has 15 returners this season, which includes six student-athletes who saw action in each of the team's 17 matches a season ago; Hagan and Marc, who started in all 17 competitions, as well as Sessoms, Birch, Okawa and Donovan Roux.
• The Spartans' roster also consists of 13 newcomers for a total of 28 players on the roster.
• UNCG's recruiting class was ranked No. 44 in the country by TopDrawerSoccer on Aug. 21 and includes seven transfers and seven incoming freshmen.
• The new class positionally features a total of four defenders, three goalkeepers, two forwards, two midfielders, one midfielder/forward and one midfielder/defender.
• In total, the Spartans roster consists of nine forwards, seven midfielders, seven defenders, three goalkeepers and a pair of midfielder/defenders.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

• Mercer is off to a 4-2-4 start overall and coming off a 3-0 win while hosting Air Force last Saturday.
• Prior to facing Air Force, the Bears traveled to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Sept. 24 and played to a 0-0 draw against then-No. 3 North Carolina.
• The Bears' top goal-scorer is senior Sekou Agard, who has four goals for eight points in 10 matches.
• Graduate student Trevor McMullen has started all 10 of the Bears' matches in goal. He leads the country with seven shutouts and has 33 saves with only eight goals against.
• Mercer played to a 7-6-8 overall record and 1-2-2 in the SoCon a season ago.
• The Bears were voted to finish at the top of the SoCon with two first-place votes.
• Mercer had four student-athletes named to the Preseason All-Conference team, the most of any team in the conference this season. Barzee Blama, Carlos Santamaria, Agard and McMullen were honored on the 11-player list.

THE SERIES HISTORY
UNCG is 13-7-3 in the all-time series against Mercer. The Spartans dropped the last meeting, 3-1, during the first round of last season's SoCon Tournament in Johnson City, Tennessee. The Spartans and Bears also played to a 1-1 draw during the regular season last year. Under Coach Rich, who took over prior to the 2019 season, UNCG is 4-2-2 against Mercer.

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UP NEXT
The Spartans return home to host the Radford Highlanders on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at UNCG Soccer Stadium.

All regular season home games are FREE admission.