Box Score SENIOR DAY PHOTO GALLERY

STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern Men's Soccer took a thrilling 1-0 win over Appalachian State on Senior Night. Senior Roberto Lopez was the hero, scoring the winning goal with his mother in the stands, seeing him play for the first time in college.

"We had a great night," said Head Coach Kevin Kennedy. "Appalachian State is a tough team, but we brought great intensity tonight and it helped carry us to the win. Now we look forward to our final four games of the regular season and to build on this for the SoCon Tournament.."

Before the match, Georgia Southern honored its class of six seniors. Neal Bates, Witt Carlisle, Nick Lane, Roberto Lopez, Hunter Norton and Thomas Valikonis were recognized for their contributions to Eagle Soccer.

The Eagles brought the intensity in the first half, out-shooting the Mountaineers 6-4 in the opening period. After halftime, Appalachian State amped up the pressure as the match turned into a back-and-forth battle of the midfields.

The Eagles went 1-0 up on a splendid strike by Roberto Lopez. The senior posted his first career goal on a right-footed strike from 25 yards. Hunter Norton got the assist, his third of the season.

"I'm so proud of Obie to get his first collegiate goal on Senior Night," added Kennedy. "It was made even more special because his mom was here seeing him play in college for the first time."

Appalachian State was reduced to 10 men in the 74th minute as Harrison Delbridge picked up his second yellow card of the evening.

Georgia Southern finished off the match without much drama as the Eagles posted their third shutout of the season and the first at the friendly confines. Neal Bates needed to make just four saves as most of ASU's 12 shots went wide.

The Eagles improve to 5-8-0 on the year and 1-3-0 in league play with two SoCon matches remaining. Appalachian State falls to 3-4-6 on the year with a 1-3-1 league mark.

Georgia Southern will host Jacksonville on Tuesday night in the final home game of the 2013 season. The Eagles and Dolphins start at 7 p.m. That match can be seen live on GS All-Access from GSEagles.com.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and witter.com/GSAthletics, and its "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.