Men’s Soccer Travels to Face No. 1 West Virginia – UNC Greensboro

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men’s soccer team packs its bags for a non-conference road test against another nationally ranked opponent in No. 1 West Virginia (WVU) on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

UNCG is 3-1-2 following a scoreless draw on Friday hosting No. 19 Charlotte and earning a 2-0 win over Longwood on Tuesday at home. UNCG’s only loss this season came back on Aug. 30 at then-No. 16 Georgetown, 1-0.

 

 
THE SPARTANS LAST TIME OUT

• The Spartans played host to the No. 19-rated Charlotte 49ers, which finished in a scoreless draw.
• It marked redshirt sophomore Seth Wilson and UNCG’s fourth clean in six games to start the season. Wilson made four saves in the contest for the sixth shutout of his career.
• Friday’s match also marked the first scoreless draw the Spartans have been involved in since exactly two years prior on Sept. 13, 2022, when UNCG tied with SMU in Dallas, Texas.
• Wilson, Axel Alejandre, Jack Birch, Keanan Bader, Daniel Longo and Emmanuel Hagan each played the entire 90 minutes.
• Enzo Dovlo paced the Spartans with three shots and one on goal.

UNCG QUICK KICKS

• UNCG is heading into its third test against a ranked opponent in just its seventh match of the season. The Spartans previously faced No. 16 Georgetown on the road on Aug. 30 before hosting No. 19 Charlotte last Friday.
• The Spartans have appeared in the United Soccer Coaches Poll twice this season. UNCG broke into the first poll of the regular season three weeks ago at No. 18 before receiving votes in the latest edition.
• Among national statistical categories, the Spartans stand within the top 20 of the country as a team when it comes to team goals against average (5th/.500), shutout percentage (5th/.667), save percentage (8th/.870) and corner kicks per game (13th/6.67).
• In goal, Wilson has made 20 saves while starting in all six games so far for the Spartans. He earned his third and fourth clean sheets of the season on Tuesday and Friday after previously earning back-to-back shutouts to open the season. Wilson earned the The Southern Conference (SoCon) Defensive Player of the Week honor on Aug. 27. He ranks second in the country with four shutouts.
• Throughout the SoCon, UNCG is ranked first in corner kicks per game, goal differential (5) and save percentage.
• Dovlo leads the Spartans and is tied with Mercer’s Sekou Agard for the SoCon’s top spot in goals scored (4) and total points (8) so far through six matches. Dovlo leads the SoCon outright in terms of goals per game (0.67) and points per game (1.33).
• Okawa leads the Spartans with a pair of assists this season and has four points for second on the team after scoring on Sept. 6 at Davidson and recording an assist in two of the last three games.
• Birch scored his first goal of the season in the eighth minute of the Spartans’ 2-0 victory over Longwood on Tuesday.
• Fifth year forward Mikey Ketteman scored his first goal as a Spartan late in the season opener before assisting Dovlo on the break in the second game. He ranks third on the team with three points thanks to the goal and assist.
• Junior Colton Sessoms, freshman Mohammed Sumaila and sophomore Arnaud Tattevin each have one point after assisting on one of UNCG’s eight goals so far this season.
• UNCG has totaled 40 corners in six matches, which includes 13 in the season opener against USC Upstate, marking the most corner kicks for the Blue & Gold in a single match since Nov. 7, 2021, when UNCG had 20.
• UNCG was selected to finish third in the 2024 SoCon Preseason Poll following voting completed by the league’s six head coaches. UNCG received one first-place vote. Senior Basile Marc and Tattevin were named to the 11-member All-SoCon preseason team on Aug. 13.
• Head Coach Chris Rich is in his sixth season at the helm of UNCG’s men’s soccer program. He has guided the Spartans to a 49-29-17 (18-5-5 SoCon) record since 2019 and totaled nine or more victories in four of his first five seasons.
• Under Coach Rich, UNCG has won three SoCon Regular Season titles, won the SoCon Tournament twice and made a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances since 2019.
• The Spartans’ roster has 15 returners this season, which includes six student-athletes who saw action in each of the team’s 17 matches a season ago; Hagan and Marc, who started in all 17 competitions, as well as Sessoms, Birch, Okawa and Donovan Roux.
• The Spartans’ roster also consists of 13 newcomers for a total of 28 players on the roster.
• UNCG’s recruiting class was ranked No. 44 in the country by TopDrawerSoccer on Aug. 21 and includes seven transfers and seven incoming freshmen.
• The new class positionally features a total of four defenders, three goalkeepers, two forwards, two midfielders, one midfielder/forward and one midfielder/defender.
• In total, the Spartans roster consists of nine forwards, seven midfielders, seven defenders, three goalkeepers and a pair of midfielder/defenders.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS

• West Virginia is off to a 4-0-1 start to the season and was ranked the top team in the nation in the latest edition of the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
• The Mountaineers rattled off four consecutive victories to start the season before settling for a scoreless draw last Tuesday at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, California.
• WVU leads the nation in corner kicks per game (8.00) and shots on goal per game (9.40).
• Additionally, the Mountaineers rank within the top 10 of the country in shots per game (2nd/20.20), scoring offense (4th/3.00), goal differential (10th/11), points per game (10th/8.00) and won-loss-tied percentage (10th/.900).
• Graduate student Sergio Ors Navarro leads the Mountaineers offensively with seven goals for 14 points already in five matches. He leads the country in goals per game (1.40) while also ranking second in total goals.
• Redshirt senior Marc Bonnaire has started in all five matches for WVU and has surrendered four goals while making seven saves. He owns a 0.83 goals against average and .636 save percentage.
• The Mountaineers were ranked No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll while also being tabbed to finish second in the Sun Belt with a pair of first-place votes.
• Junior Marcus Caldeira was named the Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while seniors Max Broughton, Ryan Baer and Frederik Jorgensen joined him on the Preseason All-Conference Team.
• The Mountaineers finished the 2023 campaign with a 17-3-4 overall record in the NCAA College Cup Semifinals following a 1-0 loss to No. 9 Clemson in Louisville, Kentucky.

 
THE SERIES HISTORY
West Virginia owns a 3-1-0 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to the 2006 season when UNCG took down WVU in Morgantown, 2-1, in double overtime. The Mountaineers then won back-to-back meetings by a 1-0 margin in 2015 and 2016 before prevailing 2-1 over the Spartans last season in Greensboro. Ethan Conley scored a game-tying goal for the Spartans in the 61st minute off an assist by Maxwel De-Bodene. Caldeira and Broughton scored WVU’s goals in the 48th and 81st minutes, respectively, on a pair of assists from Yutaro Tsukada.

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UP NEXT

The Spartans return to UNCG Soccer Stadium next Tuesday, Sept. 24 to host High Point at 7:00 p.m.

All regular season home games are FREE admission. Also, the first 100 UNCG students will receive a FREE hat! There will be buy one, get one FREE hot dogs as well as a food truck in attendance. With it being Fusion Night, the first 50 kids wearing their jersey will also get a FREE mini soccer ball!