Mercer releases men’s soccer schedule

Mercer men’s soccer head coach Brad Ruzzo released the 2016 schedule on Friday, unveiling a slate that features nine nonconference games.

Mercer will take on North Florida in an exhibition on Aug. 20 in Jacksonville, Florida, before officially opening the season on Aug. 26 against Georgia State at Bear Field.

The Bears will be away from home for the next four games, facing South Carolina (Aug. 30), Winthrop (Sept. 2), Gardner-Webb (Sept. 4) and Lipscomb (Sept. 8). Mercer will take on Winthrop and Gardner-Webb at a tournament hosted by Wofford.

The Orange and Black returns to Macon to host Central Florida (Sept. 11), Jacksonville (Sept. 14) and Georgia Southern (Sept. 17) before wrapping up the nonconference slate at Presbyterian (Sept. 21).

Mercer will open SoCon play on Sept. 27 at home against Wofford and travel to ETSU for an Oct. 1 matchup. The Bears will host UNCG (Oct. 4) and Furman (Oct. 11), with a trip to VMI (Oct. 8) in between the two games.

Mercer will be on the road for two straight games to face UNCG (Oct. 15) and Wofford (Oct. 18) before returning to Bear Field to take on VMI (Oct. 22). The Bears’ final road test will be at Furman on Oct. 25 and close out the regular season at home on Oct. 29 against ETSU.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Mercer releases men’s soccer schedule."