Eagles Face Lander In Second Exhibition Match
8/24/2010 9:01:00 PM | Men's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Men's Soccer team welcomes Lander University to Eagle Field for the second exhibition game of the season on Wednesday, Aug. 25 at 4 p.m.
The Eagles won their first exhibition of the season, downing Mercer 1-0 in a weather shortened contest at Eagle Field (Aug. 21). Senior Jon Cox (Alpharetta, Ga.) scored the game-winning goal on a free kick, blasting the ball off the defensive wall and into the right side of the net.
Ryan Platt (Preston, England) and Neal Bates (Watkinsville, Ga.) combined to keep a clean sheet against the Bears, with Platt getting the start and playing 61 minutes of the 72-minute contest. The Georgia Southern defense, led by senior captain Austin Steele (Kennesaw, Ga.) are equally as responsible for the clean sheet, holding Mercer to just two shots all game.
For Lander, it is the first game since falling 2-0 to No. 15 Carson-Newman in the 2009 NCAA Division II Championship Tournament. Aaron Brittain returns for his senior season as the top-returning goal scorer from the 2009 Peach Belt Conference championship team, finding the net 12 times on 59 shots.
Sophomore goalkeeper Matthew Atkinson started 15 games for the Bearcats in 2009, allowing just 16 goals with 49 saves. He posted a 9-3-1 record with six shutouts.
The Eagles have played Lander four times during the regular season, but the two schools haven't played each other since 1992. The Eagles took a 2-0 win at Lander on October 14, 1992, cutting the Bearcats lead in the series to 3-1.
The match will be streamed live on Eagle Vision, and fans can also follow live stats at www.georgiasoutherneagles.com and live scores at twitter.com/gsscores.
