CHARLESTON, S.C. - Monmouth's Colin Stripling headed in the match-winner in the 69th minute to give the Hawks a 1-0 collegiate men's soccer victory over Georgia Southern in both team's 2017 season opener at the Aaron Olitsky Tournament in Charleston, S.C.

The Hawks improve to 1-0 on the season with the victory in the first meeting between the two teams in school history. Georgia Southern falls to 0-1. The Eagles will wrap up action in the tournament on Sunday, taking on Furman at 4:00 p.m. at Patriots Point in Charleston.

A scoreless first half saw a flurry of activity from the Eagles at the end of the period as Adam Abdelloui had a pair of shots and Javier Carbonell's shot in the 42nd minute was saved off the line by Monmouth's Striping. Georgia Southern went into halftime of the match with a 6-3 edge in shots.

Monmouth broke the scoreless deadlock in the 69th minute as a Jake Areman free kick from right of the box found Stripling in front of the net for the lunging header and the goal, giving the Hawks a 1-0 lead.

The best chance for the equalizer for the Eagles came in the 86th minute as Alhaji Tambadu pounced on a loose ball in front of the net, drove into the box but fired a shot just high.

"It's a tough result," Head Coach John Murphy said. "I thought we were the team that had the most of it in regards to possession, with regards to flowing and connecting. But we knew Monmouth was going to be tough and resilient. They scored on a set piece that we shouldn't have given away, and we need to learn the value of possession with purpose. We pass the ball around in the back, get caught out of possession, give away a foul and they score from it.

"It's disappointing, but there are a lot of good things we can take away from the match," Murphy said. "I thought we played with a fluid style. Sometimes the final ball is lacking that final touch, but if we play with that energy and attitude all season, you're going to see the results we're looking for."

Georgia Southern finished the match with a 12-9 edge in shots, tallying six in each half. Robert Flott made one save in 90 minutes of action for the Eagles, while Bobby Edwards improved to 1-0 in net for the Hawks, making three saves for the shutout. Each team had five corner kicks on the day and Georgia Southern committed 13 fouls, compared to nine for Monmouth. Each team was offsides once.