Saturday's men's soccer roundup

No. 3 seed Mercer 7, No. 6 seed VMI 0

MACON, Ga. – The third-seeded Mercer University men's soccer team scored a season-high seven goals to steam past No. 6 VMI, 7-0, on Saturday in the first round of the Southern Conference Championship.

Jordan Duru put the Bears (11-6-2) on the board early with a goal in the 11th minute. Max Poore made it 2-0 for Mercer in the 28th minute, and Jake Mezei and Duru added goals in the 33rd and 36th minutes, respectively, to give the Orange and Black a 4-0 advantage before halftime.

The majority of the second half was scoreless until Drew Schall netted a pair of goals in the 81st and 87th minutes and David Murtaugh followed quickly with a score in the 88th minute, putting Mercer up 7-0.

Duru scored two goals for the Bears, including the game-winner. He also dished out two assists in the first half, giving the junior a hand in each of Mercer's four first-stanza goals. Duru's two goals and six points are career highs, while his two assists tie a career high.

Schall also scored two goals for Mercer, having tallied two shots for the day.

Mercer outshot VMI (0-19), 24-3, including a 13-1 shots on goal advantage. Mercer also led in corner kicks, 10-3, including a 6-1 advantage in the first half.

Mezei and Poore each notched a goal and an assist for the Orange and Black. Mezei's goal was his first of the year, while Poore scored his third of the season.

Emmet Johnson, Will Jones and Trenton Whitely each tallied an assist for Mercer.

Jeremy Booth made one save, recording his seventh clean sheet of the season.

Mercer played VMI three times this season, earning wins in each of the matches. The Bears won 2-1 in each of the two regular-season meetings.

The Bears will play in their second straight SoCon tournament semifinal match. Mercer is now 2-1 in SoCon tournament games.

No. 3 Mercer will face No. 2 Furman in the SoCon semifinals on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. at Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City, Tenn.

 

No. 4 seed ETSU 5, No. 5 seed Wofford 0

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Wofford men’s soccer team allowed four first-half goals and eventually fell to ETSU 5-0 in the Southern Conference Championship quarterfinals at Summers-Taylor Stadium on Saturday night.

Wofford (9-7-2, 4-5-1 SoCon) ends its 2015 season with the loss. The Terriers were outshot in the match 12-9, with six of their nine shots coming in the second half.

ETSU (8-6-3, 4-4-2 SoCon) scored the first goal of the match in the 24th minute. Midfielder James Smith gave fellow midfielder Mitchell Cecatiello a leading pass toward the box, which Cecatiello touched into the left corner of the net just under the hands of a diving Garrett Closs.

Minutes later, midfielder Fletcher Ekern struck a line drive past Closs into the net to give ETSU a 2-0 advantage in the 27^th minute. Cecatiello assisted on Ekern’s goal.

Wofford had a couple of close scoring chances early in the half. Forward Matthew Aurednik headed a pass from the center of the box, but ETSU keeper Jonny Sutherland was able to make the save. Later, midfielder Will Puckett lined up a shot that hit off the right post and deflected out, keeping the score at 2-0 in favor of ETSU with 15 minutes in the half remaining.

Ekern found the back of the net later in the first half, as well. Forward Henrique Novaes’ corner kick in the 35th minute went to forward Cameron Woodfin, who found Ekern close to the net and passed him the ball to set up Ekern’s 10th goal of the season.

Novaes would add a fourth goal for ETSU at the 40th minute to give the Buccaneers a 4-0 halftime lead.

The Terriers had a prime chance to score with 30 minutes left in the second half, as midfielder Connor Donohue crossed the ball to an open Matthew Ward. Ward’s one-time shot however sailed just high of the net.

Smith scored ETSU’s fifth and final goal on a corner kick pass from forward Joao Ramalho with less than 28 minutes left in the second half.

Wofford could not get much going offensively late and was held from scoring despite winning the corner kick battle 8-5 over the Buccaneers.

Closs suffered the defeat for the Terriers, making one save in the match. Sutherland earned the victory while making three saves for ETSU.

The loss was the Terriers’ worst loss since the 2006 season. It also was only the second time the Terriers were shut out this season.

ETSU advances to play the No. 1-seeded UNCG Spartans on Nov. 13 at 3:30 p.m. in the semifinals, held at Summers-Taylor Stadium.