Men's Soccer Travels to Elon
10/20/2011 3:36:00 PM | Men's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Soccer travels to Elon for the first of two trips to the Piedmont Triad to close the 2011 regular season. The Eagles face the Phoenix on Friday night, October 21st, at 7 p.m. Georgia Southern closes the 2011 regular season with a trip to UNCG on Tuesday, October 25th.
Georgia Southern can virtually assure itself a home playoff match with at least one victory from its final two league matches. The Eagles are second in the Southern Conference on nine points (3-2) and trail Appalachian State by just one point (3-0-1). The Mountaineers play on Saturday, so with a win over the Phoenix, Georgia Southern would again go top of the Southern Conference.
Senior forward Luigi Clendening (Augusta, Ga.) was held scoreless last week in two matches and looks to return to scoring form. The SoCon Player of the Year candidate has 11 goals to rank 11th in the nation, while his total of 27 points places him seventh in Division I.
The Eagle offense has soared with 2.14 goals per match to rank 13th nationally, while scoring 30 total goals, the ninth highest total among D-I schools. Sophomore Witt Carlisle (Alpharetta, Ga.) ranks 61st in total goals with six and Drew Ruggles (Manassas, Va.) has four assists to rank 93rd in the nation.
The Eagle offense has been buoyed by a solid defense, led by goalkeeper Ryan Platt (Preston, England). He has a 1.47 goals against average and is averaging 5.58 saves per match for 13th in the nation.
Elon enters the weekend's play with a 5-8-1 overall record and a 1-3-0 mark in the Southern Conference. The Phoenix scored a 2-0 victory over Wake Forest on Thursday night and a 1-0 win over Elon a week prior. Chris Thomas leads the Elon offense with five of the team's 21 goals.
The Eagles close out the 2011 regular season at UNCG on Tuesday night, October 25th. The match begins at 7 p.m. from the historic UNCG Soccer Stadium which played host to the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships.
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