Veteran leadership key for Bears

The Mercer men’s soccer team has had plenty of success since joining the Southern Conference, and head coach Brad Ruzzo expects that to continue this season.

The Bears, who have four seniors and six juniors, open their season Aug. 26 against Georgia State.

Mercer finished 11-6-3 last season and 14-7 in 2014. They are 13-5-2 in the Southern Conference in two years in the conference and won the 2014 regular-season title.

“I expect quite a bit to be honest with you,” Ruzzo said. “We have a lot of senior and junior leadership that have played a lot of games in the past two years that have won 25 games and a regular-season championship.”

Ruzzo pointed to Ian Antley, Connor Antley, Will Bagrou and Jordan Duru as players to watch.

“Absolutely, win the regular season and win the conference tournament and get to the NCAA championship is the ultimate goal,” Ruzzo said. “And these guys are pushing for that every day.”

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Veteran leadership key for Bears."