STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern men's soccer team wraps up its 2017 regular season schedule on Saturday, traveling to Boone, N.C., for a 7 p.m. Sun Belt Conference match against Appalachian State.

With one match day left in the Sun Belt, very little is decided as all six teams in the league look towards next week's conference tournament in Conway. The Eagles (8-7, 2-2 SBC) are currently tied for third in the league standings with Hartwick. Georgia State is first in the standings, one point ahead of Coastal Carolina, and the two teams play at 6 p.m. in Atlanta.

After last Saturday's 4-2 win over Howard, the Eagles can finish anywhere from second to fourth in the league standings. The second seed carries with it a bye, and would be extremely important as the tournament format has the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds, as well as the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, playing on Thursday, Nov. 9th. The semifinals are just one day later with the top seed hosting the 4/5 winner and the second seed hosting the 3/6 winner. 

"I think the best way to handle that is focus on the game you're playing," Head Coach John Murphy said. "It can be quite volatile when there's multiple games going on at once. Our league is tight this year, and that's a complement to all the Sun Belt teams. For us to get caught up in all the possibilities - it doesn't mean anything if we're not ready to play. We have to put our full focus on Appalachian State."

The Mountaineers are 4-7-5 overall and 0-2-2 in the Sun Belt, currently fifth in the league standings heading into Saturday's matchup. Appalachian State is coming off of a 4-0 loss at Coastal Carolina last Saturday, which is the most goals they have given up in one match this season. Coming into that matchup, Appalachian State had given up just seven goals in its last 10 matches.

"[Head Coach] Jason O'Keefe's done a fantastic job in his two years there," Coach Murphy said. "They are very resolute defensively and they've played an outstanding schedule. They've done well limiting opposing team's scoring chances and we know know it's going to be a difficult game up there. There is a great rivalry between our two schools."

For the Eagles to secure the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Sun Belt tournament, Howard must get at least one point from Hartwick, the Eagles must defeat Appalachian State and Georgia State must defeat Coastal Carolina. A loss to Appalachian State means the Eagles would be the No. 4 seed, and there are a variety of combinations that could grant Georgia Southern the No. 3 seed.