Southern Conference title on the line for Mercer, East Tennessee State

The Mercer men’s soccer team faces East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. on Saturday with the Southern Conference regular-season title on the line.

If Mercer wins Saturday, it will be the program’s second regular-season championship in the three years the Bears have been in the conference.

“I think that is a testament to the program and the guys’ hard work,” Mercer head coach Brad Ruzzo said after also winning the title in 2014. “We talk about the little details leads to big things, certainly (Saturday) night is going to be a lot about details and making sure we kind of cross our ‘T’s, dot our ‘I’s basically, and I think we’re ready to go.”

Saturday’s game also will determine seeds for the conference tournament. The first and second seeds get a bye in the conference tournament semifinals next week.

Although the Bears are 7-2 in conference play, they had a rough start to their season. There were two non-conference games prior to the conference season that Ruzzo said he did not think the team particularly played or competed well in.

“It was definitely a low point, and we had to look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out like how we’re going to get back on track,” Ruzzo said.

Before conference play began the team was able to change a few things, and a few players, around, and the moves paid off. Now Mercer is first place in the conference with a chance to clinch another title.

“It’s a sign of a good team to bounce back from setbacks, and they certainly have done that and put themselves in a great position,” Ruzzo said.

This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Southern Conference title on the line for Mercer, East Tennessee State."