Wednesday, November 03, 2010

MACON, Ga. – A pair of first round matches hosted on campus sites kicks off the 2010 Atlantic Sun Men’s Soccer Championship as No. 3 Mercer hosts No. 6 Jacksonville and No. 4 Lipscomb welcomes No. 5 Campbell on Saturday. Top-seeded ETSU and No. 2 Stetson await Saturday’s winners in Johnson City, site of the 2010 semifinals and championship match.

Mercer enters the championship with its highest seed since earning a three-seed in the 2005 event, and the team’s 10 wins represent the most for the Bears in six years. The Bears ride a season-best three-match winning streak into the tournament - a streak that began which began with a 1-0 overtime victory at Jacksonville on Oct. 23. In that match, Ryan King netted the game winner just over seven minutes into the extra session. Despite defensive stalwart Joey Heavner missing that match for the Bears, Mercer allowed only two shots on goal. Jacksonville matched the defensive effort, surrendering just a pair of shots on goal themselves.

The Dolphins managed just two wins in the team’s final eight matches, but they did salvage a tie against Stetson in the regular-season’s final match to secure the six-seed. Contrasting styles should mark the match-up. JU enters as the conference’s second-most potent offense, averaging nearly two goals a match behind the play of Nedim Hurstic, the A-Sun’s top scorer with 10 goals. Mercer counters with a stingy defense - allowing only 1.12 goals per outing. Since the tournament field expanded to its current six-team format in 2003, the Bears own a 4-2-0 in first round play while the Dolphins have a 1-1-0 mark. The two teams have met only one time in A-Sun Tournament history with Mercer besting JU 2-1 in the 2001 Championship final.

Lipscomb and Campbell square off for the second time in seven days as the Bisons claimed a 2-1 win against the Fighting Camels in both team’s regular-season finales on Saturday in Buies Creek. Garrett Pettis’ strike just 61 seconds into the second half provided the winning margin. Another evenly played match saw both teams manage just 11 shots total with three on frame. Lipscomb enters winning five of its last seven matches while Campbell has dropped five of their last seven.

Under first year head coach Steve Armas, the Camels have displayed a diversified offense with 10 different players netting a goal. The Bisons’ big duo of Pettis (7 goals) and Miguel DaSilva (6) have scored more than 40 percent of the team’s goals this season. The two teams have never met in the A-Sun Tournament. Lipscomb owns a 1-1-0 mark in first-round matches since 2003 while Campbell boasts a 2-0-0 record over that same period.

Both matches can be seen live on ASun.TV with the Camels and Bisons kicking off at 1 p.m. CT and the Bears and Dolphins playing a 7 p.m. match.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts five of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.