Trevor Martineau, Men’s Soccer Red Hot Going Into SoCon Tournament

Mercer Men’s soccer has been in fine form the last two months of the season and their work has earned them the Southern Conference regular season title along with a first round bye in the conference tournament.

Both the team and freshman forward Trevor Martineau began to heat up once they moved to using a 4-3-3 formation.

“We were kind of moving around with a lot of different systems but we really found our stride when we played the 4-3-3,” said senior Jake Mezie. “We've just been having great team chemistry scoring a lot of goals.”

The new formation and style of play the team adopted plays to Martineau’s strengths, seeing him tally seven of his nine goals and six of his seven assists since the switch.

“You get a lot of cross in the box and I feel like my aerial game, being 6’4, has been pretty good,” Martineau said. “It's been paying off for me… just doing my job that coach gives me.”

Martineau’s play hasn’t gone unnoticed by the SoCon. He has been awarded three SoCon Player of the Week awards, an achievement that has never been done before by a freshman in SoCon history.

The team securing first place in the SoCon and playoff byes was an important “box checked off” as head coach Brad Ruzzo put it. The consensus around the team is the bye will allow for the team to rest up and get plenty of preparation heading into the conference tournament.

The Bears will be able to address some of the defensive lapses they have gone through in the last couple games  by allowing opponents to tie the game from large deficits.

Although the team recognizes the issue, Mezei said they aren’t worried about it being a lasting problem.

“I don't think there's any nervousness. I mean we trust everyone on this team and I know a coach has faith in everyone on the field who's been playing,” Mezei said.

Ruzzo said he feels the defensive lapses could be from a lack of maturity but with 13 freshmen that might happen.

This bye will help the team heal from injuries that have been suffered throughout the season.

“[Getting the bye] helps because we're starting to pick up guys with these little knocks and injuries like groins and hamstrings,” Mezie said. “It’d definitely help us going into the semifinals … getting everyone healthy and having everyone at 100 percent.”