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Georgia Southern University Athletics

Men's Soccer

Eagles Survive for 3-2 Win Over Davidson

STATESBORO, Ga. - It may have taken two days, but Georgia Southern Men's Soccer improved to 1-0 in Southern Conference play with a 3-2 victory over Davidson on Monday (Sept. 26th) afternoon. The first attempt at the match from Sunday afternoon was abandoned after 67 minutes due to lightning, forcing Monday's replay. The Eagles (5-2-1, 1-0-0 SoCon) trailed 1-0 in the abandoned match to Davidson (4-3-1, 0-1-0 SoCon), but scored three first half goals in the victory.

"Our focus today was the 90 minutes in front of us, not yesterday's match or this morning," Head Coach Kevin Kennedy told Eagle Vision. "Then when we got a weather delay late in the match, our focus was that final 4:51. Yesterday, the only thing missing was our final pass in the attacking third. Today, we were outstanding in attack and it showed with three goals on the scoreboard."

Sophomore midfielder Hunter Norton (Evans, Ga.) scored the breakthrough just 1:08 into the match. The Eagle captain marched the ball up the middle of the pitch and dished to Luigi Clendening (Augusta, Ga.) on the combination play. The ball came back to Norton who controlled the ball past four Davidson defenders in the penalty area. He won space behind the defenders and scored the goal with a hard shot past the Davidson goalkeeper.

Clendening doubled the Georgia Southern advantage in the 15th minute with a penalty kick. The forward earned the spot kick when the Davidson goalkeeper hauled down Clendening on a breakaway inside the penalty area. Clendening coolly scored the penalty for his seventh goal of the season and a 2-0 Georgia Southern advantage.

Davidson cut the Georgia Southern lead to 2-1 in the 31st minute on Greg Macnamara's long-range goal. The Wildcat attacker dribbled the ball in the midfield and ripped a low, driving shot from 35 yards which found the goal.

Witt Carlisle (Alpharetta, Ga.) responded five minutes later by scoring the Eagles' third goal of the afternoon off an assist by Joe Hughes (Mooresville, N.C.). The ball was slotted to Carlisle at the top of the 18-yard box and the junior took the shot first touch from the penalty spot to score his fourth goal of the year.

The Wildcats drew another goal back in the 75th minute when Chris Pettiglio scored a goal to put pressure on the Eagles. The tally cut the GSU advantage to 3-2 with just 15 minutes to play.

In the 85th minute, lightning again halted the proceedings for the fourth time since the match began on Sunday afternoon with just 4:51 remaining in regulation.

The teams returned to the field after a delay of over an hour and 45 minutes. Davidson threw attached at a fever pitch over the final moments of the match. The Eagle defense repeatedly turned back the Wildcat offense which was able to record just one shot in the waning moments.

Goalkeeper Ryan Platt (Preston, England) recorded six saves in the replay after allowing the abandoned match's only goal just a day earlier. He also picked up his fifth win between the pipes.

Georgia Southern returns to action against Jacksonville on Wednesday, September 28th. The non-conference match against the Dolphins begins at 4 p.m. from Eagle Field.

Fans can follow their Eagles at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or receive short updates at facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics or on Google+ at gplus.to/GSAthletics.

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