Men’s Soccer Hosts SoCon Tournament First Round on Sunday

STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern Men’s Soccer opens the 2012 Southern Conference Tournament at home on Sunday afternoon against UNCG. The Eagles’ enter the postseason at home for the second time in as many years starting at 4 p.m. against the defending regular season champions.

Sunday’s match can be seen live on GSEagles.com. To view the contest, click on the “Watch & Listen” button on the main GSEagles.com homepage.

Despite the 5-11-1 overall record, the Eagles earned the No. 4 seed for the tournament with a 3-3-1 league mark. GSU earned its only home victory of the year against UNCG on October 16th, taking a 4-1 victory at Eagle Field. The victory over UNCG in the regular season snapped a 10-match winless streak and opened a 3-1 finish to the regular season for Southern.

Hunter Norton scored two of his three goals this season against the Spartans with an early brace. His brother Reed Norton and senior Joe Hughes lead the Eagle offense with four goals. Drew Ruggles and Witt Carlisle have joined Hunter Norton with three goals this season. Ruggles is the team leader in assists with four this year.

UNCG is 5-9-2 on the year with a 3-4 mark in the Southern Conference. Preston Ford scored the Spartans’ goal in the previous meeting this year, his only score of the season, with an 85th minute tally. Hakan Ilhan is the top scorer for the Spartans with seven goals and seven assists.

The winner of Sunday’s match advances to face either Davidson or Elon in the SoCon Tournament Semifinals on Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. The final two rounds of this year’s tournament are being played at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

Fans can follow their Eagles at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or receive short updates at facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics or on Google+ at gplus.to/GSAthletics.

Category: Men's Soccer

Published on Saturday, 03 November 2012 11:10