STATESBORO, Ga. - After the week-long layoff due to Hurricane Irma, the Georgia Southern men's soccer team returns to action on Saturday, hosting Coastal Carolina, 7 p.m. at Eagle Field in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams. (Live Stats / Live Video)

The conference opener not only features the two teams who tied for the 2016 Sun Belt regular season title a year ago, but also features the two teams picked to finish 1-2 in the league in a preseason poll of the league's coaches. Coastal Carolina received four first place votes and 33 points total in the poll, while Georgia Southern received a first place vote and 27 points.

Each team carries a 2-3 overall record into Saturday's match, but the schedule has been rigorous for both the Eagles and the Chanticleers. Two of Georgia Southern's five matches have been against teams currently ranked in the USC Top 25 with No. 10 Clemson and No. 15 Furman, while one of Coastal Carolina's two wins came against then-No. 15 Charlotte, a 3-2 victory on Sept. 5.

For the Eagles, all five matches have been tight affairs with only one goal separating the teams. Before Irma, Georgia Southern picked up a 1-0 win over Houston Baptist on Sept. 8 thanks to Blake Wilson's goal in the 55th minute. That was four days after a tough 2-1 overtime loss to nationally-ranked Clemson before a school-record crowd of 1,237 fans at Eagle Field.

"As a coach, that's what you want," Head Coach John Murphy said about the close matches to start the season. "If your kids are fighting all the way to the end, and you are in every game, you can walk off the field proud of the manner in which you played. In that regard, I'm very pleased. In this first third of the season, heading into the second phase, we haven't hit our full potential yet. I think that's exciting. And that's not a negative. 

"That's the way we envisioned it.  As long as we fight, the results will take care of themselves. I think we're in a good spot."

Coastal Carolina has scored seven goals in its five matches this season, but all seven goals have come from different players for head coach Shaun Docking, who has been the head coach for the Chanticleers for more than 20 years, winning more than 250 matches. The two teams played a memorable 0-0 scoreless draw last season in Conway, so goals may be at a premium on Saturday when the two teams hit the pitch.

"I have so much respect for Shaun, with what they've accomplished there in 20 years. I admire him a great deal," Murphy said. "The game last year, nil-nil, was a fantastic game. It was a very attacking game, which you find to be contradictory when it's a scoreless draw. But that wasn't the case. It was very exciting, backwards and forwards, and I think it will be a similiar game tomorrow night in regards to both teams being open and both teams looking to attack. The fact that they have had several different scorers could be seen as a compliment because they have depth and they have attacking options, which any team would want. I think it will be a great atmosphere. Our conference is growing and I think tomorrow night will be a great advertisement for Sun Belt soccer."

As with all home matches in September and October, Georgia Southern is asking fans to bring items and #FillTheTruck to help victims of the recent hurricanes that hit Texas, Florida and the Southeast. Click here for a list of desired items.