Wednesday, November 09, 2011

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The 2011 Atlantic Sun Men's Soccer Championship gets underway on Wednesday with No. 4 seed Mercer and No. 5 seed Lipscomb at 4 p.m. and ETSU, the defending tournament champions, vs. No. 3 seed Jacksonville in the 7 p.m. nightcap.

Mercer and Lipscomb tied 1-1 in the season finale for the Bisons on Oct. 27th as Mercer finished the conference slate at 3-3-2 and the Bisons completed league play at 3-4-1. The winner of the Mercer/Lipscomb match will face top-seeded FGCU on Friday at 4 p.m.

The Dolphins and Buccaneers met in the regular season on Oct. 9th with JU coming away with a 2-1 win at home. Jacksonville capped A-Sun play with a 5-2-1 mark, while the Bucs enter this year's championship as the six seed. No. 2 seed Stetson awaits the winner of the ETSU/Jacksonville match for a 7 p.m. kick-off on Friday. All championship games will be broadcasted for free on ASun.TV.

Lipscomb vs. Mercer - Championship Notes
• Mercer has appeared in 13 of the past 14 A-Sun Men’s Soccer Championships, which is second most during that span behind Stetson’s 14.
• The Bisons are making their fifth-straight appearance in the A-Sun Men’s Socccer Championship, which is the second-longest streak (Stetson; 14 straight).
• The Bears are 10-10-1 all-time in the conference tournament and are 1-1 as the four-seed (2003) and have qualified for the past four championships.
• Lipscomb is 3-3-1 during that span. This marks the first time LU has been the five-seed.
• Will Betts, the A-Sun Scholar-Athlete of the Year, ranks 11th in the conference for points with a career-best 12 on five goals and two assists.
• Last year, Lipscomb defeated Campbell, 5-1, in the first round before falling to ETSU, 1-0, in double-overtime with seven seconds remaining in the semifinal match.
• Freshman goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh ranks second in the conference with a 1.07 Goals Agaisnt Average, only trailing ETSU’s Ryan Coulter (1.05).
• Lipscomb won the lone A-Sun Championship match against Mercer in 2008 with a 2-1 final in the first round. Garret Pettis scored the opening goal in the 5th minute of the game.
• Junior defender Joey Heavner is tied for second in assists in the A-Sun with FGCU’s Josey Portillo with 7.
• Pettis’ 76 career points ranks as the best in the A-Sun amongst active student-athletes. His 33 goals also ranks as the most.
• Mercer’s seven shutouts on the season tied for the conference lead, while its three in conference play tied for second.
• Goalkeeper Brent McGee ranked third in the conference with 64 saves. For his career he has 194 career saves, which ranks third-most amongst active A-Sun keepers.
• MU has won two A-Sun Championships (1999 and 2001).
• Andrew Chamberlain was the only player to start in all 18 games.

Jacksonville vs. ETSU - Championship Notes
• The Dolphins have appeared in seven of the last eight A-Sun Championships and own a 7-6-2 record all-time.
• ETSU defeated two ranked teams this season (#24 UNC Greensboro; No. 14 William & Mary), while also tying No. 23 Furman.
• As the three-seed, Jacksonville is 1-1 all-time with the previous appearance coming in 2001.
• The Bucs led the A-Sun in non-conference wins with six, which included wins against Virginia Tech, at Marshall and Davidson.
• From Sept. 28 - Oct. 22, the Dolphins went on a seven-match unbeaten streak in which they outscored their opponents, 13-6.
• Senior forward Aaron Schoenfeld ranks fourth in the A-Sun in points with 18 on seven goals and four assists, while sophomore David Geno’s four game-winning goals tied for first in the league.
• The Dolphins ranked third in the A-Sun for team points with 84 on 31 goals and 22 assists.
• ETSU enters as the defending A-Sun tournament champions. The last team to repeat as champs was UCF (2002-04).
• JU fell to Stetson last season, 1-0, of the A-Sun Championship Semifinals on a goal in the 83rd minute of play.
• The six-seed has never reached the A-Sun Championship Final and is 1-11-1 all-time in tournament matches.
• This marks ETSU’s third-straight appearance in the A-Sun Championship. The Bucs are 3-1 all-time.
• In their last four A-Sun Championship appearances, the Dolphins have advanced to the semifinals with two final berths.
• ETSU fell to Jacksonville, 2-1, this season. The Dolphins lead the all-time series, 3-1, with a goal differential of 5-2.
• Stefan Durr led JU in scoring on the season with six goals and three assists, which ranked as seventh-best point total in the A-Sun.
• ETSU was 5-2-3 at Summers-Taylor Stadium this season.
• Jacksonville last captured the A-Sun title in 2008, when they went on to Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

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