GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer team plays host to The Southern Conference (SoCon) foe Furman Paladins on Saturday with a 7:00 p.m. kick-off at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
 

THE SPARTANS LAST TIME OUT

• The Spartans took down the Radford Highlanders, 3-0, last Tuesday night in non-conference action at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
• Senior midfielder Yoshiya Okawa led UNCG by scoring a pair of goals against his former team after transferring to UNCG from Radford following the 2021-22 school year.
• Okawa's scored off assists from Steven Hernandez and Basile Marc in the 11th minute before capitalizing on a penalty kick drawn by Hernandez in the 66th minute.
• Redshirt sophomore Maddox Mallery played a season-high 72 minutes in the match and made the most of it by scoring the third and final goal off an assist by Colton Sessoms in the 68th minute.
• Redshirt sophomore Seth Wilson recorded his fifth clean sheet of the season with three saves in the match.
• The Spartans led in corners, 3-1, shots, 18-7, and shots on goal, 7-3.

UNCG QUICK KICKS

• UNCG is 5-1-4 overall and 0-0-1 in the SoCon after drawing, 1-1, with Mercer in Macon, Georgia, last Saturday.
• UNCG fell two spots to No. 23 in this week's TopDrawerSoccer Men's College Soccer National Rankings, marking the third consecutive week in the poll.
• The Spartans have appeared in the United Soccer Coaches Poll twice this season. UNCG broke into the first poll of the regular season on Aug. 27 at No. 18 before receiving votes the following week (Sept. 3).
• Among national statistical categories, the Spartans stand within the top 20 of the country as a team when it comes to save percentage (7th/.825), team goals against average (10th/.700) and shutout percentage (16th/.500).
• Throughout the SoCon, UNCG is ranked first in corner kicks per game (5.20), goal differential (9), save percentage, scoring offense (1.60), team goals against average, total goals (16), total points (44) and won-loss-tied percentage (.700).
• Wilson ranks eighth in the country with five shutouts this season. He has been named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 27 and Sept. 17.
• Okawa now leads the conference with 11 points. He has recorded all of his points in just the last seven matches.
• Dovlo and Okawa lead the Spartans with four goals scored and are tied for the league lead with two other SoCon student-athletes.
• Ketteman ranks third on the Spartans with five points via two goals and an assist. He scored his second goal of the season on Sept. 17 at then-No. 5 West Virginia, which forced a 2-2 draw.
• Birch is fourth on the Spartans with four points after scoring his second goal of the season at Mercer last Saturday.
• Tattevin is fifth on the team with three points. He led UNCG a season ago with seven goals for 14 points.
• UNCG began the season facing 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 51-29-19 (18-5-6 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 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 PALADINS

• Furman is off to a 4-2-2 start overall and heading into its first conference test against UNCG.
• The Paladins had their first SoCon match, scheduled against Wofford on Oct. 5, postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Helene.
• The Paladins are coming off a 3-1 victory at USC Upstate on Tuesday.
• Caleb Johnson, Landon Hill and Ivan Agyaakwah netted the goals against USC Upstate.
• Prior to facing USC Upstate, the Paladins knocked off then-No. 23 College of Charleston, 4-2, on Sept. 17.
• Christian Kraus leads the Paladins with nine points (3g, 3a) so far in eight matches.
• Sophomore Aaron Salinas has started all eight matches in goal for Furman. He owns a 1.38 goals against average, a .694 save percentage and one shutout.
• Furman ranks eighth in the country in terms of shot accuracy, landing 51.4 percent of its shots on goal.
• The Paladins were voted to finish fourth in the SoCon this season while receiving one first-place vote.
• Kraus and Starnes were named Preseason All-SoCon.

THE SERIES HISTORY
This will mark the 48th all-time meeting between the Spartans and Paladins. UNCG holds a 23-20-4 series lead. However, Furman captured a 1-0 victory in last season's meeting thanks to a second-half goal from Slade Starnes.

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UP NEXT
The Spartans will conclude a three-game home stretch by hosting Elon on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.

All regular season home games are FREE admission. Tuesday's match will feature a t-shirt giveaway for the first 100 UNCG students. Additionally, there will be buy one, get one FREE hot dogs, a food truck in attendance and the first 50 Fusion kids wearing their jersey will receive a FREE mini soccer ball!