GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer team hits the road to take on the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Keydets on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Patchin Field in Lexington, Virginia.
 

THE SPARTANS LAST TIME OUT

• UNCG won 3-1 over UNC Wilmington on Wednesday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
• Sophomore Arnaud Tattevin scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season in the 30th and 68th minutes.
• Sophomore forward Keanan Bader scored his first goal of the season right after checking into the game ahead of a corner kick in the 38th minute.
• Enzo Dovlo, Daniel Longo and Jack Birch recorded their third, first and second assists, respectively.
• Junior Tim Baerwalde made three saves for the Spartans.
• UNCG led UNCW in corner kicks, 5-4, shots, 13-10, and shots on goal, 6-5.

UNCG QUICK KICKS

• UNCG is 8-2-4 overall and 1-1-1 in the SoCon, which includes a 7-0-1 mark at home and 1-2-3 record on the road.
• The Spartans fell 3-2 on the road at Wofford in their most recent The Southern Conference (SoCon) match last Saturday night, which snapped a nine-game unbeaten streak.
• Among national statistical categories, the Spartans stand within the top 30 of the country as a team when it comes to won-loss-tied percentage (21st/.714), goal differential (22nd/14), save percentage (24th/.786), team goals against average (25th/.857) and shutout percentage (30th/.429).
• Throughout the SoCon, UNCG is ranked first in corner kicks per game (5.29), goal differential (14), scoring offense (1.86), total goals (26) and won-loss-tied percentage (.714).
• Senior Yoshiya Okawa is tied for the conference lead with six goals and second with 15 points. He has scored five times in the last four games and was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week last week.
• Tattevin was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three times and providing one assist last week. He is also tied for the league lead with six goals having scored five times in the last three games. He is second on the team with 14 points. Tattevin led UNCG a season ago with seven goals for 14 points.
• Baerwalde was named last week's SoCon Defensive Player of the Week after he made three saves for a clean sheet in his Spartan debut on Oct. 12 against Furman. It marked the fourth shutout of his collegiate career.
• Baerwalde and Seth Wilson have combined for six shutouts this season. Wilson ranks 26th in the country with five on the campaign. He was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 27 and Sept. 17.
• Dovlo is third on the team with four goals and 11 points.
• Freshman Issah Haruna was ranked No. 96 in TopDrawerSoccer's Midseason Freshman Top 100 last week before earning an honorable mention on the team of the week on Tuesday. He is fourth on the squad with eight points (3g, 2a).
• The Spartans received votes again in this week's edition of the United Soccer Coaches Poll. It marked UNCG's fourth time in the poll this season after breaking into the first poll of the regular season on Aug. 27 at No. 18 before receiving votes the following week (Sept. 3) as well as last week (Oct. 15).
• UNCG was also ranked No. 19 in last week's TopDrawerSoccer Men's College Soccer National Rankings, marking the fourth consecutive week in the poll.
• UNCG faced three top-25 programs in its first seven games.
• The Spartans faced No. 16 Georgetown on the road and fell 1-0 on Aug. 30 before drawing, 0-0, at home against No. 19 Charlotte on Sept. 13 and tying No. 5 West Virginia on the road, 2-2, on Sept. 17.
• 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 54-30-19 (19-6-6 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 and 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 KEYDETS

• VMI is 5-7-2 overall record and looking for its first win in league play with a 0-3-0 record in the SoCon.
• The Keydets lost 4-1 at Furman in their most recent contest last Saturday. Senior forward Grant Martin scored the lone goal for VMI.
• Martin leads the Keydets with six goals and 14 points this season.
• Freshman forward Anthony Huang leads VMI in assists with six and is second on the team with 12 points.
• While VMI has had three different goalkeepers see action this season, junior Zack Murphy has played the majority of the matches with 13 starts. He is 4-7-2 with one shutout, 2.12 goals against average and .732 save percentage.
• VMI was voted to finish last in the SoCon Preseason Coaches' Poll.

THE SERIES HISTORY
The Spartans are undefeated with a 22-0-0 record in the all-time series against VMI.

Last season's 6-2 victory for the Spartans in Greensboro marked their first time in seven games surrendering at least one goal to the Keydets. UNCG has outscored VMI 69-11

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UP NEXT
UNCG will conclude the regular season hosting ETSU on Senior Day at UNCG Soccer Stadium on Nov. 2 at 6:00 p.m.

All regular season home games are FREE admission. Saturday's game will have a food truck in attendance.