Men's Soccer Closes Regular Season at UNCG
10/24/2011 10:26:00 PM | Men's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Soccer plays UNC Greensboro on Tuesday night, October 24th, with a Southern Conference Regular Season Championship in the balance. The Eagles are 8-6-1 overall this season and first in the Southern Conference with a 4-2-0 league record entering the final regular season contest.
With a win, the Eagles will inch closer to the program's first regular season title in program history. With a win, GSU would force its rivals, Appalachian State and Davidson to win their final two and three matches, respectively to claim the league title.
Senior forward Luigi Clendening (Augusta, Ga.) scored twice in last week's match at Elon. His late goals helped seal a 4-2 victory that sent the Eagles back to the top of the league entering the final round of contests. The SoCon Player of the Year candidate has 13 goals to lead the SoCon and ranks among the national leaders.
Georgia Southern's offense has posted a robust 2.27 goals per match mark to rank among the top-10 nationally. Sophomore Witt Carlisle (Alpharetta, Ga.) has six goals this season, while Drew Ruggles (Manassas, Va.) has four assists.
A solid defensive unit has helped the Eagles soar to new heights. Senior goalkeeper Ryan Platt (Preston, England) has 72 saves this season and an 1.51 goals against average.
UNC Greensboro has an opportunity to vie for the regular season title, but sits third behind Georgia Southern and Appalachian State entering the final stage of the season. The Spartans need a victory to remain alive for the league title. UNCG is 6-7-1 overall and 3-1-1 in league play. Hakan Ilhan leads the Spartans with seven goals and three assists on 39 total shots. The UNCG goalkeeper, Peyton Ford, has five shutouts and a 0.73 goals against average in 12 appearances between the pipes.
Tuesday's match against UNCG starts 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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