No. 4 Mercer Battles No. 5 UNF in First Round of A-Sun Championship

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – The fourth-seeded Mercer men’s soccer team kicks off its sixth-straight appearance in the Atlantic Sun Championship with a first round match-up against fifth-seeded North Florida on November 13 at 7 p.m. at the FGCU Soccer Complex.

Mercer (5-13-1, 3-4-1 A-Sun) needed two wins in its final two league games just to qualify for postseason play, but got the two results it needed thanks to a pair of road wins courtesy of overtime goals.

The Bears are 1-0 all-time against the Ospreys in A-Sun Championship play, with the only meeting culminating in a 3-0 Mercer win in Jacksonville in 2009.

Scouting the Opposition

North Florida (6-6-3, 2-4-2 A-Sun) is making its first A-Sun Championship appearance since taking on the Bears back in 2009. The Ospreys captured the lone regular season meeting between the two schools in 2013, using a goal by freshman Sean Young in the 70th minute to post a 1-0 win in Macon on Oct. 26. UNF’s main problem during conference play was keeping opposing teams out of its own net, as it ranked seventh in league play allowing 1.17 goals per game. A-Sun All-Conference second team selection Alex Morrell leads the Ospreys offensive group with eight points on two goals and four assists this season.

Last Time Out

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In a must-win situation to make its sixth-straight appearance in the Atlantic Sun Championship, the Mercer men’s soccer team pulled out a 2-1 double overtime comeback win over Lipscomb on Saturday evening at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex.

Sophomore Juan Jose Morales scored the game-winning goal in the third minute of double overtime to make Mercer (5-13-1, 3-4-1 A-Sun) the No. 4 seed in next week’s A-Sun Championship.

With the score tied at 1-1, senior Ryan King served a ball into senior Ehjayson Henry, who laid off a pass of his own to Morales who finally slipped a shot past Lipscomb goalkeeper Micah Bledsoe to secure the Bears 2-1 double overtime win.

Mercer goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh was brilliant in goal all night long; tying his career-high with 10 saves in the win.

Game Notes

– Senior Ryan King and junior Greg Ranjitsingh swept the A-Sun Conference Weekly Awards in the final week of the regular season. It is the first time a pair of Mercer players has won both the A-Sun Player of the Week and A-Sun Defender of the Week since Ehjayson Henry and Ashani Samuels pulled off the task in October of 2012.

– After his performance against Lipscomb, Ranjitsingh now leads the A-Sun with 93 saves this season and is up to 252 career saves which is the 19th-most in A-Sun Conference history.