Men's Soccer Clinches A-Sun Tourney Berth

Adam Hunt
Sports Reporter / Columnist

The Mercer men’s soccer team clinched a spot in the Atlantic Sun Championship with a nailbiting 2-1 victory over Jacksonville.
A bumper crowd filled the Bear Field stands to witness the high octane encounter.
It was do or die for both teams who each knew that a win would solidify their place at the coveted Championships.

With the win, the Bears record moves to 5-9-2 overall and 4-4-0 in A-Sun play. Jacksonville falls to 5-10-1 overall and 3-5-0 in A-Sun action after taking the loss.

Mercer now has 12 points in conference play, meaning that it can finish no worse than sixth when league play concludes.

“We are very happy to make the Atlantic Sun Championship for the second year in a row,” said head coach Brad Ruzzo. “We have been out of form recently but we bounced back tonight and that shows how tough we can be.”

The game began with both teams fighting for every touch. It was clear from the opening whistle that the referee was willing to let the game flow and several heavy challenges flew in as a result.

The Bears were the first to convert a goalscoring opportunity in the 18th minute of play. Freshman striker Bryson Jones, in just his second start of the season, nipped in front of a Jacksonville defender to head home from eight yards.

The score remained 1-0 until half-time with the Mercer defense managing to keep Jacksonville at bay.

Mercer then doubled the lead in the 62nd minute, when sophomore Zach Rall found space just outside the area and curled his shot past Dolphins goalkeeper Joey Sanchez.

A careless challenge from Mercer defender Phillip Thoren gifted Jacksonville redemption just minutes later in the form of a penalty kick.
Senior Stefan Runeman made no mistake, sending Brett Petricek the wrong way to put the Dolphins right back in the game.
You could sense the tension in the final 20 minutes as the away side threw all they had at the hosts in search of an equalizer.
But the Bears fought valiantly and managed to hold on for the all-important win.

Mercer are back in action in their last A-Sun Conference match against UNF on October 31 at Bear Field. Don’t forget to pick up the next issue of The Cluster for a full report from the game.

“We are very happy to be in the Championship, but we still have to keep fighting and play smart,” said Ruzzo. “UNF will be another tough opponent for us and we have to show up and play well if we want to earn a result and improve our tournament seeding.”