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December 16, 2010
Men’s Soccer 2010 Season Recap
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men’s soccer team came into the 2010 with two words in the back of everyone’s minds, “high expectations”.
With third-year head coach Brad Ruzzo returning nine starters from a team that advanced all the way to the 2009 Atlantic Sun Championship Final, the outlook going into the 2010 campaign was one of great potential.
In a season that marked the 40th anniversary of the inception of the men’s soccer program at Mercer, the 2010 edition of the Bears played with a passion and determination that would have made all past players proud.
The Orange and Black finished the season with a 10-6-1 overall record and a 5-4 mark in conference play, but achieved so much more than what their win-loss record indicates. The team raised their level of play up to a point that people started to take notice, both regionally and nationally.
This fact was not more evident than right before the 2010 season was about to kick off. Senior midfielder Ian Cameron and sophomore goalkeeper Brett Petricek were both ranked in a list compiled by TopDrawerSoccer.com of the Top 20 Players to Watch in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Cameron topped the group of talented individuals, while Petricek checked in at #13 on the list.
The Bears started the season on the road with four-straight non-conference matches. After splitting a pair of games at Gardner-Webb and Winthrop, Mercer traveled to North Carolina to take part in the Flash Gordon Motors Invitational in High Point, N.C. After downing Radford 3-0, the Orange and Black grinded out a 2-2 tie against host school High Point to take home the championship trophy for the event due to a 3-1 goal differential advantage over the Panthers.
After rattling off two more non-conference wins, a 2-1 triumph in its home opener against in-state rival Georgia State on Sept. 19 and a 2-1 road win at VMI on Sept. 24, Mercer entered A-Sun Conference play with a sparkling 4-1-1 record. Sophomore defender Josh Shutter scored both goals in the Bears 2-1 win versus Georgia State and was rewarded for his effort by being named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week.
The Orange and Black started their A-Sun action by going 1-1 in their opening weekend of conference play. After defeating USC Upstate 2-0, the Bears traveled to Tennessee and dropped a very physical contest at ETSU, 2-1.
Mercer then shifted its attention to a nationally ranked UAB squad to conclude its out-of-conference schedule. The Blazers came into the contest ranked 29th in the country, but Cameron scored the lone goal of the match on a penalty kick to give Mercer its first-ever victory over a nationally ranked team.
The Bears early season success; 6-2-1 after the UAB win, was even more impressive considering almost all of it was done on the road. Eight of the squads’ first nine games to start the season were on the road, which might have finally caught up with the Orange and Black when they went to Buies Creek, N.C. to take on a tough Campbell squad. The Bears let up a goal in the final minute of regulation to drop a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to the Camels on Oct. 9.
After the Campbell loss, the team reached a major breaking point in their season. The Bears were 6-3-1 overall, but only 1-2 in A-Sun play heading into a pair of matches against two of the elite teams in the conference. FGCU and Stetson were ranked sixth and 10th, respectively, in the NSCAA South Regional Poll, while both squads were also receiving votes in the most recent College Soccer News National Poll.
First up for the Bears was a match-up with the Stetson Hatters, who came into the contest riding a five-game winning streak. Freshman Joshua Ball gave Mercer all the offense it would need when he scored the lone goal of the match in the ninth minute to give the Bears a 1-0 win. Sophomore goalkeeper Brett Petricek made five saves in the win to preserve his fourth shutout of the season.
Next up for the Orange and Black was a tilt against the No. 24 ranked team in the country, FGCU. The Eagles took advantage of a controversial red card in the first half against sophomore Richie Edmondson to pull out a 3-1 victory over Mercer on October 16 at Bear Field.
Despite losing to No, 23 FGCU, the Bears overall body of work in 2010 was recognized when they appeared as the No. 10 team in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America South Regional Poll. The regional ranking was the first-ever in the 40-year history of the Mercer men’s soccer program.
After splitting its two games on a road trip to Florida, a 2-1 loss at UNF and a 1-0 win at Jacksonville, Mercer headed into the final weekend of conference play still looking to clinch a spot in the A-Sun Championship for the third time in as many years.
Mercer came through in a big way by sweeping both Lipscomb and Belmont at home by scores of 2-0 and 2-1, respectively, to clinch the number three seed in the A-Sun Championship.
The win over Belmont secured Mercer’s first 10-win season since 2004 and guaranteed that it would host an A-Sun Championship match for the first time since 2005.
The Bears late season success in conference play seemed to generate more respect from coaches around the league. That respect came to fruition when the A-Sun All-Conference teams were announced and six Mercer players were honored, trailing only FGCU who had seven players receive All-Conference recognition.
Cameron, Shutter, Petricek and Edmondson all earned All-Conference second team honors, while Taylor Krek and Ryan King were voted onto the All-Freshman team.
Despite all the success and accolades the Mercer men’s soccer team accumulated over the season, its 2010 campaign came to an abrupt end in the first round of the A-Sun Championship, courtesy of the sixth-seeded Jacksonville Dolphins.
Jacksonville came into a sold out Bear Field on November 6 and scored a goal in the 88th minute of play to win the match and end Mercer’s season.
Despite the loss, the Bears season was one filled with gaudy statistics and impressive rankings. As a team, Mercer was ranked 94th in the RPI in a much improved A-Sun Conference that featured five teams with Topp-100 RPI rankings. The Bears also posted Top-60 national rankings in scoring offense (55th), shutout percentage (44th) and win-loss-tie percentage (48th) and were one of only 35 teams in the country with at least five road wins. Individually, no one made more of an impact statistically than Petricek. The Woodridge, Ill. finished the season with a 1.14 goals against average and six shutouts, totals that rank second and tied for first in Mercer single-season history.
Only one thing is certain looking forward, and that is the promising future that lies ahead for the Mercer men’s soccer program. Under coach Ruzzo’s guidance, the Bears have gone from two wins, to seven wins and up to 10 victories this season in his third year at the helm of the program.
The Orange and Black only lose one senior from this year’s squad, Cameron, and return nine starters looking forward to 2011, which will probably be preceded with the same two words that foreshadowed a memorable 2010 campaign, “high expectations”.
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