Men's Soccer Holds off North Florida 1-0 for First Win
11/4/2009 3:16:00 AM | Men's Soccer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Freshman midfielder Rich Heyer (Tupelo, Miss.) scored his first goal of the season, knocking the ball into the left corner of the net in the 61st minute and lifting Georgia Southern to a 1-0 win over North Florida. Junior forward John Cox (Alpharetta, Ga.) assisted on the goal. The Eagles shut out the Ospreys the remainder of the match to record their first victory (1-14-1).
Georgia Southern survived a barrage of North Florida shots on goal as the Ospreys held the advantage in the match, 8-5, and in corner kicks 7-1. North Florida attacked Georgia Southern territory repeatedly in the first half with 12 shots, four on target with junior goalkeeper Zach Buckley (Forsyth, Ga.) making the saves. The Eagles' most promising scoring opportunity was a penalty kick at the 19:40 mark, but Osprey goalkeeper Julian Beau moved in to save Danny Hall's (Conyers, Ga.) attempt. The Ospreys continued with a flurry of five shots and two corners in a two-minute period without success.
Georgia Southern's Cox nailed a shot at the 33:54 mark that was defended and North Florida shot just once more in the half. Hall kicked the Eagles' only corner at 41:35 to close out the action in the first half. Trading shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Eagles substituted Heyer in the lineup at 58:41 and placed two attempts on the Osprey goal. Joe Madigan (Centennial, Colo.) took aim for the first and then Heyer took the pass from Cox on the right side and crossed for the score.
The Eagles would hold off six Osprey attempts the rest of the match with Buckley picking up four of his six total saves in the final 29:20 and his first collegiate win.
"Defensively we did an outstanding job and it was probably one of our better games in terms of possessing the ball and creating opportunities," said Head Men's Soccer Coach Kevin Kennedy. "Danny (Hall) did a great job in midfield, Jon (Cox) performed well at the front, and Austin (Steele) organized us on the backline. It was a good finish."
The Eagles play their final al home match, Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. at the Soccer/Track Complex at Erk Russell Athletic Park. Georgia Southern Men's Soccer will honor its seniors Danny Hall and Joey Ralph prior to the start of the match. Depending on the outcome of the Elon-UNC Greensboro game on Saturday evening, the Eagles may have to venture back to Elon to replay the match that was terminated by weather conditions September 24th.
