STATESBORO, GA. – For the second-straight season Georgia Southern Men's Soccer will open the SoCon Tournament against the UNCG Spartans. This year, however, the Eagles will start the postseason on the road with a 7 p.m. match on Tobacco Road. Last year the Eagles needed a 105th minute goal to take a 2-1 win over the Spartans.
David Vargas Masis posted the game-winning goal last year in the SoCon Tournament opener. Nearly two hours of delays pushed back the start of the game and UNCG took a 1-0 lead on 25 minutes.
Reed Norton equalized with a PK with just under six minute remaining in the match to force overtime.
The Eagles are just two weeks removed from their regular season trip to the Piedmont Triad. Georgia Southern dropped a 2-1 result to the Spartans on the night, scoring early, but allowing goals in the 68th and 76th minutes as the win slipped away.
Goalkeeper
Neal Bates picked up SoCon Player of the Week honors last week, earning the final weekly award of the 2013 season. The senior netminder allowed just one goal in each of the Eagles' two wins last week including a 2-1 triumph over No. 14 Furman.
Witt Carlisle scored a pair of goals against the Paladins and leads the team in scoring.
Hunter Norton got his fifth goal of the season on Sunday at JMU, capitalizing on an assist from his brother,
Reed Norton. That win elevated the Eagles to 8-9-1 on the season.
UNCG enters the postseason on the back-foot, losing their last two matches after the win over the Eagles. The Spartans fell 2-1 in overtime to Virginia on Oct. 29 and dropped a 4-3 result to Elon to close the regular season. Dustin Gamradt scored twice for the Spartans against the Eagles and leads the team with five goals this season.
Saturday's match can be seen live for free on Spartans All-Access on UNCGSpartans.com.
The winner of the first round clash earns a semifinal berth against Appalachian State or Elon at Stone Stadium in Greenville, S.C. Game time for the semifinal is dependent on Furman's result in the first round and can be at either 5:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.
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.
