CLEVELAND, Ga. – Truett McConnell men's soccer is set to battle for position atop the Appalachian Athletic Conference as they travel to Athens, Tenn. to compete against the Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs on Wednesday.
Both sides are undefeated to open 2026 conference play, with Truett McConnell entering with a 2-0 AAC record and +8 goal differential while Tennessee Wesleyan holds a conference best 3-0 record with a +5 goal differential. Despite it being early in the season, the two teams already share three common opponents with identical results, proof that Wednesday's face-off is set to be a tight contest.
Despite historical success in this matchup for the Bulldogs, the Bears have had the better of tomorrow's hosts in recent years. They enter with a two-game win streak against TWU with their last loss dating back to 2022.
Pablo Farrona and
Roman Reynolds played roles in the scoring in last year's matchup and will be featured again in tomorrow's game. TMU also carries heavy momentum into the game offensively as they have now scored 19 straight unanswered goals over the span of their last four fixtures.
Francesco has been the star offensively for the Bulldogs seven games into the season. The junior forward out of Grosseto, Italy has recorded six goals, good for fourth place in the 2026 AAC golden boot race. Ange Astolfi and Ulfarsson Kasper have co-anchored the defense as goalkeepers, combining for 19 saves on the year.
Truett McConnell's roster also offers plenty of star power on both sides of the ball, further contributing to the forecast of an exciting match. Jovica Lazareivc is off to a historic start, leading the AAC in both goals (eight) and points (17), while
Pablo Farrona owns the top spot in the conference in shot attempts (25). Keeper
Jakob Hendrickson is currently first in in the conference in goals against average (0.23), tied for first in goals against (1) and tied for second in save percentage (.875), an impressive resume for the second year player and first year starter.
Kickoff for the highly anticipated matchup is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the TWU Athletic Complex.
