Greenville, S.C. – Furman will play for its 15^th league title and 12^th NCAA Tournament bid when the third-seeded Paladins host No. 5 seed Mercer in the Southern Conference Men's Soccer Championship Match Sunday at 2 p.m. on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.
 
Admission to Sunday's match is free and all Furman fans are encouraged to wear black. The championship match will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Jason Patterson and Phil Cox calling the action. Links for the live stream and live statistics are available online at FurmanPaladins.com.
 
The Paladins (10-5-3) punched their ticket to the finals with a 1-0 victory over No. 2 seed Wofford last Sunday afternoon at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C. Senior Alfredo Diaz-Santillan scored the lone goal of the contest in the 80^th minute on an assist from Christian Kraus and freshman Aaron Salinas recorded his fifth shutout of the season as Furman avenged a 1-0 loss to the Terriers in the regular season finale. Mercer (6-5-8) earned its sixth trip to the SoCon finals in the last eight seasons by advancing past top-seed ETSU in a penalty shootout on Sunday in Johnson City, Tenn.
 
Furman sports a 48-18-3 all-time record in the SoCon Men's Soccer Championship and will be making its 18^th appearance in the league finals. The Paladins have claimed 14 tournament titles with the most recent coming in 2018 when they topped UNC Greensboro in the championship match in Johnson City, Tenn.
 
Mercer enters Sunday with an 11-6-4 lead in the all-time series between the Bears and the Paladins. The two SoCon powers have played to a scoreless draw in each of the last two meetings, including this year's regular season contest on October 14 in Macon, Ga. The Paladins are 1-2-1 versus the Bears in SoCon postseason play and captured a 1-0 win in the only previous championship meeting between the schools in the SoCon finals in 2014.
 
Kraus, a first team All-SoCon choice, leads the Paladins with 10 goals and five assists on the season. His 25 total points tops the SoCon. The Fenton, Mo., native netted a hat trick in Furman's 4-1 quarterfinal round win over VMI on November 3. 
 
2023 SoCon Men's Soccer Championship 
Quarterfinals, Friday, Nov. 3
Match 1: No. 5 Mercer 3, No. 4 UNCG 1 (Johnson City, Tenn.)
Match 2: No. 3 Furman 4, No. 6 VMI 1 (Spartanburg, S.C.) 
Championship Semifinals, Sunday, Nov. 5
Match 3: No. 5 Mercer 1, No. 1 ETSU 1, MU advances on PKs (Johnson City, Tenn.)
Match 4: No. 3 Furman 1, No. 2 Wofford 0 (Spartanburg, S.C.) 
Finals, Nov. 12
Stone Soccer Stadium/Greenville, S.C.
Match 5: No. Mercer at No. 3 Furman, 2:00