STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern men's soccer team continues the current three-game road swing with a short trek along Interstate 16 to Macon where the Bears of Mercer await a Saturday, September 17 matchup on the pitch. The Eagles and Bears will tangle at 8 p.m. at Bear Field.

MATCH SNAPSHOT 
GS at Mercer
Saturday, Sept. 17   |  8 p.m. EDT   |   Bear Field (Macon, Ga.)
Live Stats

SCOUTING THE BEARS
The series between Georgia Southern and Mercer is one of the longest running rivalries for the Eagles. The two have met 46 times on the pitch with the series tied up at 23-23, but the Bears hold a slight 12-9 advantage in Macon. Mercer has claimed the last seven meetings with the last Georgia Southern win in the series coming on August 26, 2006 at home when the Eagles downed the Bears 3-1 in Kevin Kennedy's first season at the helm. Mercer is led by Brad Ruzzo who has been the head coach since 2008 and boasts an overall record of 67-59-12 since taking over.

Mercer is currently 5-1 on the year, including a 3-2 double overtime victory over then 24^th-ranked South Carolina in Columbia in the second game of the season. The Bears have played four of their first six games on the road, including going 1-1 in Spartanburg, South Carolina at the SoCon/Big South Challenge. The lone blemish on the Bears' record came in the form of a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Winthrop. Since that loss, Mercer has won their last three games, including a 3-1 victory at home over Jacksonville on Wednesday, Sept. 14.

Mercer is led on offense by Will Bagrou's three goals, one assist and seven points. He has taken 12 shots on the year with eight being on goal. Bagrou is one of eight Bears to have started every game. 13 Mercer players have seen action in every game so far. Max Poore is second on the team with two goals this year and Conner Antley is tied with Poore for second on the team with five points. Antley leads the team with three assists and has taken a team-high 14 shots with eight being on frame. In goal, Jeremy Booth has started all but one game between the pipes for the Bears, making 19 saves and allowing just six goals. He boasts a 4-1 record for the season and has one clean sheet to his name.

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LAST TIME OUT
The Georgia Southern men's soccer team went on the road into a hostile environment and came just a few minutes shy of walking away with a win Tuesday night. The Eagles led a traditionally good South Carolina team 1-0 for much of the match, but the Gamecocks were able to find the equalizer late in the second half and used the momentum swing to earn a 2-1 victory in overtime at Eugene E. Stone III Stadium.

The Eagles went on the attack from the first whistle and it paid off as Blake Wilson scored his fourth goal of the season in the sixth minute off a deflected shot by Adam Abdellaoui to give the Eagles the early 1-0 lead. Despite being out-shot 13-7 in the first half, the Eagles held onto the lead well into the second period, but the Gamecocks would not be denied as they found the net in 84^th minute and then went on to claim the win in the first overtime in the 97^th minute.

MEN'S SOCCER COACHING STAFF ANNOUNCES COACHES SYMPOSIUM
Georgia Southern head men's soccer coach John Murphy and his staff will host a coaching symposium on Saturday, September 24. This four hour event, which will include pre-match insights from Coach Murphy and his staff as they prepare for that evening's game against North Florida, will be held in the Gene Bishop Fieldhouse located at Paulson Stadium.

The coaching symposium, which costs $30 per coach and includes handouts of notes and methods as well as a raffle ticket for adidas items, will be open to both male and female coaches of any level, but will be more geared towards helping high school and club level coaches. The event will include discussion of training themes, methods and rhythms accompanied by video footage of the Eagle men's soccer team's preparation that week. The staff will highlight how scouting and analysis is used in the modern game and how it could be applied to any coach's preparation.

This event will give coaches in attendance the chance to learn insights from the only American born coach to hold both the prestigious EUFA Pro Badge (Scottish Football Association) and a Certificate of Applied Football management from University of Warwick (English Professional League Manager's Association). Murphy is a NSCAA National Instructor and an author of two books and two instructional DVDs.

MEN'S SOCCER WILL PLAY FOUR TIMES ON THE ESPN FAMILY OF NETWORKS
Four Georgia Southern men's soccer games will receive national exposure in the coming weeks with the Eagles having the opportunity to play four times on the ESPN family of networks, including one home game and two during the road swing that begins next week as well as one game in October.

The Eagles got their first national exposure of the year this past Tuesday, September 13 at South Carolina when the Eagles and Gamecocks played on the SEC Network+.

Next week, GS will travel to Durham, North Carolina, to play at Duke. That game will be on the ACC Network Extended. The Blue Devils are currently 2-0-1 on the season and are coming off a 1-0 win over No. 9 UCLA in Los Angeles, California, a win that has garnered Duke votes in the most recent NSCAA national coaches poll. The game between Georgia Southern and Duke is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

The third ESPN game of September for the Eagles will be at home against Campbell on Tuesday, Sept. 27. The game against the Fighting Camels will be available on ESPN3 with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. at Eagle Field.

The fourth and final ESPN game currently on Georgia Southern's schedule will be on Tuesday, October 25. On that date, the Eagles will play at Clemson in a 7 p.m. game that will be nationally televised on the ACC Network Extra. Clemson is currently No. 2 in the NSCAA coaches poll and was the national runner up to Stanford last year.

NEXT UP
The Eagle men are currently in the midst of a three-game, three-state road swing that will take them through South Carolina, Georgia and up into North Carolina. Following the game at Mercer, the Eagles will travel to Durham, North Carolina on Tuesday, Sept. 20 where they will face off against the Blue Devils of Duke. That game will kick off at 7 p.m. and will be available on the ACC Network Extra.


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