Men's Soccer Edged by Appalachian State on Senior Day
11/7/2009 9:07:00 PM | Men's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern men's soccer team was edged by Appalachian State 1-0 on Senior Day at Eagle Field. The Eagles fought hard, playing down a man most of the match. Georgia Southern kept the game close with a number of fine stops from their defense.
The Eagles found themselves short handed following a 12th minute red card, and Lee Rutter capitalized for Appalachian State. He tallied the game winner in the 17th minute off a pass from Steven Sassano.
The game opened with both teams moving the ball across the midfield. The Mountaineers took two shots in the first two minutes of the match. Luis Calzadilla launched both. His first missed high of the net on a header attempt, and his second was blocked by a defender.
The Eagles got their offense rolling with a through ball to Rich Heyer (Tupelo, Miss.). Witt Carlisle (Alpharetta, Ga.) kept pressure on the Mountaineers' defense with a shot on goal in the seventh minute.
Appalachian State, however, took control of the ball and did not allow another in the first half. Zach Buckley (Forsyth, Ga.) stopped two shots on goal, but the Mountaineers scored the game-winner in the 17th minute. Steven Sassano found Lee Rutter for a shot from the middle of the box.
Georgia Southern's offense rallied and played a better second half. The Eagles launched five shots in the half.
Austin Steele (Kennesaw, Ga.) made a number of fine stops including a stop on shot on goal in the 52nd minute. The Mountaineers recorded another shot on goal a minute later, but Buckley stepped up to deny the goal.
The Eagles moved the ball and earned a corner kick a minute later. Joe Madigan (Centennial, Colo.) took the corner kick, but it was cleared by the defense.
Georgia Southern took two more corners in the 60th minute, which led to a strong shot by Steele. The ball was cleared out of the box, but Steele found the ball and launched a shot.
Arie Muniz put the Mountaineers back on the attack in the 65th minute with a shot to the right post. Steele made the save and cleared the ball out of the box.
The Eagles' fourth corner of the second half led to a header attempt by Steele. His shot missed high of the net.
Matt Crowell (St. Augustine, Fla.) and Jon Cox (Alpharetta, Ga.) both tallied shots in the second half. Crowell missed high of the net, and Cox was off target to the right of the far post.
Tyler Regan went one-on-one with Buckley and sneaked the ball past him, but Sean Pinto (Marietta, Ga.) chased down the slow roller and cleared it.
Carlisle added a final shot but missed high of the crossbar in the 84th minute.
