GREENWOOD – The No. 10 Lander men's soccer team begins the 2021 season with a pair of Conference Carolina opponents ranked no. 1 and 2 in their preseason poll in Francis Marion and Chowan on September 2 and 5.

QUICK HITTERS

Lander's Record: 0-0-0, 0-0-0 PBC

Francis Marion's Record: 0-0-0, 0-0-0 CC

Chowan's Record: 0-0-0, 0-0-0 CC

First Met (FMU): Sep. 22, 1981 (9-0 FMU)

Last Met (FMU): Apr. 7, 2021 (2-2 Tie)

First Met (Chowan): Aug. 31, 2017 (5-2 Lander)

Last Met (Chowan): Oct. 17, 2018 (0-0 Tie)

Last 5 against FMU: 3-1-1

Last 5 against Chowan: 1-0-1

Next Match: Sept. 8 vs Newberry

STORYLINES

• The Bearcats are entering the 2021 season ranked no. 10 in the country. They finished the last season ranked no. 5 in the country.
• Lander won the Peach Belt Conference regular season with a perfect 8-0-0 record, picking up its 10th PBC regular-season title.
• The Bearcats saw plenty of post-season awards go their way. Highlighted by Tom Marriott being named PBC Player of The Year. Head coach Lee Squires was named PBC Coach of The Year for the third time since coming to Lander. Marco Gueli  was named PBC Freshman of The Year. Lander has earned at least a share of this award in consecutive seasons and five of the last six seasons. Along with Marriott, Max Bolton, Max McNulty, Alistair Danjon, Mohssine Samiki and Jacob Withers were named to the PBC first team while Harry Bircumshaw was named to the second team.
• The Bearcats were picked to finish first in the 2021 PBC preseason poll with Bircumshaw, Bolton, Marriott and McNulty all named to the all-PBC preseason team.
• The Bearcats scored 27 goals last year while only allowing 6. Not including a shutout victory over South Carolina, Lander began the season with four consecutive shutouts.
• McNulty led the Bearcats with six goals while Bolton, Marriott and Gueli all had five. Bolton and Marriott were tied with a team-high 14 points last season.
• Withers backed the Bearcats in eight of the nine games played last season. Finishing with 740 minutes of action, he finished with .61 GAA and four shutouts.
• Lander went 2-0-1 last season against FMU. The regular-season opener between the two sides saw Gueli fire home his first goal as a Bearcat to give the Blue and Gold a 1-0 win over the Patriots. FMU would have the last laugh, as it would defeat the Bearcats in the PBC Tournament on penalty kicks.
• This will be the 57th meeting between Lander and FMU, The Bearcats hold a 40-12-4 overall record against the Patriots that stretches back to 1981. Lander is 16-6 on the road against FMU.
• FMU was recently picked to finish first in the 2021 Conference Carolina preseason poll. This is the first season FMU is in Conference Carolina after being part of the PBC since its inception.
• The Patriots went 4-3-4 last spring. They made it all the way to the PBC Championship where they eventually fell to Falgler in a shoot
• Javier Bello led FMU in scoring and points with five goals and 12 points. Maximiliano Rocco played 10 games in net, finishing with a 4-2-4 record and a .745 save percentage. He also had 2 two solo shutouts and one combined shutout.
• Chowan, who was picked to finish second in Conference Carolina this season.
• The Hawks went 7-2-1 last season, as they started the season going 5-0-1 which included an 11-0 win over Southern Wesleyan. Making it to the conference finals, Chowan fell 1-0 to Barton.
• Harrison Ardon led the Hawks with five goals, four assists and 14 points. Chowan had five players record three or more goals last season.
• Ross Miller handled the majority of action in net, starting in nine games while playing in 10 total. He allowed just six goals while posting a 6-2-1 record with three shutouts.
• The Bearcats come home to Van Taylor Stadium for their first home game on September 8 for a 7:30 pm start against Newberry.

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