Men?s Soccer to Clash with Defending SoCon Champ UNCG

STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern men’s soccer team will challenge defending Southern Conference champion UNC Greensboro in front of an international audience, Friday night (Oct. 26), at UNCG Soccer Stadium.  The game, to be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel as part of a 20-game telecast, is slated for 8 p.m. in Greensboro, N.C.

Georgia Southern (6-8-0, 2-3-0) is coming off an exciting 3-2 victory over Appalachian State (Oct. 20) at Eagle Field.  Freshman forward Luigi Clendening (Augusta, Ga.) scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute – his second winner of the day – lifting the Eagles over the Mountaineers for the win.

UNCG (6-7-2, 2-3-0) recently dropped a match to No. 10 Creighton, 2-0 (Oct. 20) in Greensboro, extending the team’s recent losing streak to three games.  The Spartans’ last conference match ended in a 3-1 loss to College of Charleston (Oct. 13).

Friday’s game – a rematch of the 2006 Southern Conference tournament title game – is the 16th meeting between the schools.  The Spartans claim a commanding 13-0-2 all-time series advantage over the Eagles.  Prior to falling 3-0 in the tournament championship match (Nov. 5, 2006), the Eagles held on for a scoreless tie with the Spartans at Eagle Field (Sep. 20, 2006), which was one of a record-tying eight shutouts on the season.

Second-year head coach Kevin Kennedy’s Eagles are led on offense by Luigi Clendening with 12 points, including five goals (a team-high) and two assists.  His mark in the points category is eighth-best in the Southern Conference.  Junior forward Daniel Smith (Marietta, Ga.) follows with 10 points on three winners and a team-best four helpers.  Smith ranks 10th in the conference in both assists and assists per game (.29).

The Spartans are captained by head coach Michael Parker in his 24th year.  UNCG is led on offense by Thomas Campbell with 18 points, including eight goals (team-high) and two assists.  Campbell leads the league in shots (50) and shots per game (3.33) while ranking second in points and goals.  Following is Jokull Elisabetarson with 10 points on five goals.  He ranks third in the league in shots (33) and shots on goal (2.36).

Fans can follow the game on-line at UNCG live stats.

Post-game results and statistics will be posted on www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.

After Friday’s match, both teams have one more Southern Conference contest on the 2007 schedule.  Georgia Southern will return home to Eagle Field to host College of Charleston, Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 5 p.m.  UNC Greensboro will next travel to Elon, Saturday, Nov. 3 to battle the Phoenix at 7 p.m.

Category: Men's Soccer

Published on Thursday, 25 October 2007 00:19