GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 1 seed UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer team is set to take on the No. 4 seed Furman Paladins in the semifinal round of The Southern Conference (SoCon) Tournament on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at UNCG Soccer Stadium.

UNCG won a share of the SoCon Regular Season Championship and the top seed for the SoCon Tournament last Saturday with a 3-2 win over the No. 2 seed East Tennessee State (ETSU). ETSU will host No. 3 seed Wofford in the other semifinal game on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in Johnson City, Tennessee.
 

THE SPARTANS LAST TIME OUT

• UNCG won 3-2 at home over ETSU to conclude the regular season.
• Senior midfielder Yoshiya Okawa scored the first goal of the match in the 10th minute.
• Sophomore Arnaud Tattevin made it 2-0 Spartans in the 58th minute.
• Sophomore forward Enzo Dovlo extended the lead back to a pair, 3-1, with a goal in the 73rd minute.
• ETSU's Hubert Deragon scored one last goal for the Buccaneers in the 74th minute, but UNCG held them there for an eventual 3-2 victory.
• Redshirt sophomore forward Steven Hernandez led the Spartans with two assists.
• Redshirt sophomore Seth Wilson made a pair of saves.
• Wilson, Axel Alejandre, Jack Birch, Daniel Longo and Emmanuel Hagan each played the full 90 minutes.
• UNCG trailed ETSU in corner kicks, 6-4, and shots, 15-9.

UNCG CONFERENCE RECOGNITIONS

• Okawa was named SoCon Player of the Year.
• Freshman midfielder Issah Haruna earned SoCon Freshman of the Year.
• Birch and Tattevin joined Okawa on the All-SoCon First Team.
• Dovlo and Longo were named to the All-SoCon Second Team alongside Haruna. Also joining Haruna on the All-SoCon Freshman Team was defender Mohammed Sumaila.

UNCG QUICK KICKS

• UNCG is 10-2-4 overall and 3-1-1 in the SoCon, which includes an 8-0-1 mark at home and 2-2-3 record on the road.
• The Spartans finished the season undefeated at home for the first time since 2002, when UNCG completed its home slate 8-0.
• UNCG was ranked No. 20 in this week's TopDrawerSoccer Men's College Soccer National Rankings.
• 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 (13th/.750), goal differential (21st/16), shutout percentage (22nd/.438), team goals against average (22nd/.875) and save percentage (26th/.774).
• Throughout the SoCon, UNCG is ranked first in goal differential, points per game (5.31), scoring offense (1.88), total goals (30), total points (85) and won-loss-tied percentage.
• Okawa leads the conference with eight goals and 20 points. He has scored six times in the last seven games.
• Tattevin ranks second on the team with seven goals and 16 points. He led UNCG a season ago with seven goals for 14 points.
• Dovlo is third on the team with five goals and 14 points. He earned his second SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honor on Tuesday. He is tied for the team lead with four assists.
• Haruna was ranked No. 96 in TopDrawerSoccer's Midseason Freshman Top 100 three weeks ago before earning an honorable mention on the team of the week on Oct. 29. He is fourth on the squad with nine points (3g, 3a).
• Baerwalde was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 15 after he made three saves for a clean sheet in his Spartan debut on Oct. 12 against Furman. He posted his second shutout of the season on Oct. 26 at VMI, marking the fifth of his college career.
• Baerwalde and Wilson have combined for seven shutouts this season. Wilson ranks 41st in the country with five on the campaign. He was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 27 and Sept. 17.
• Hagan earned SoCon Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 29 after helping the Spartans earn a 3-1 win over UNC Wilmington as well as their seventh shutout of the season on Oct. 26, 1-0 at VMI.
• The Spartans received votes again in this week's edition of the United Soccer Coaches Poll. It marks UNCG's sixth time in the poll this season.
• 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 56-30-19 (21-6-6 SoCon) record since 2019 and has now totaled nine or more victories in five of his first six seasons with last Saturday's win at VMI.
• Under Coach Rich, UNCG has won four 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.

SCOUTING THE PALADINS

• Furman is 8-3-4 overall and earned the fourth seed for the SoCon Tournament with a 2-1-2 record in conference play during the regular season.
• Furman advanced to Sunday's SoCon semifinal round with a 2-0 victory over No. 5 seed Mercer on Friday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
• Wilfer Bustamante headed in the go-ahead goal in the 20th minute and Lloyd Wamu Snell tucked away a shot in the 38th minute as each tallied their fifth goal of the 2024 campaign.
• Furman's Aaron Salinas was named the SoCon Goalkeeper of the Year.
• The Paladins were voted to finish fourth in the SoCon Preseason Coaches' Poll with one first-place vote.

THE SERIES HISTORY
This will mark the 49th all-time meeting between the Spartans and Paladins. UNCG holds a 24-20-4 series lead and defeated Furman 1-0 in the previous meeting this season in Greensboro back on Oct. 12.

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UP NEXT
The winner of Sunday's semifinal in Greensboro will face the winner of the other semifinal matchup, No. 2 ETSU hosting No. 3 Wofford. The SoCon Championship will be hosted by the highest remaining seed either next Saturday or Sunday.