STATESBORO, GA.  – Georgia Southern Men's Soccer's 2013 season got off on a sour note as the Eagles dropped a 2-1 decision on Friday night at Eagle Field. Great defense by the hosts kept the score tied at 0-0 through 45 minutes, but a Winthrop goals in the 46th and 55th minutes put the Eagles behind the eight-ball. Witt Carlisle scored late for the Eagles, but it wasn't enough on the night.

"In the first half I thought we defended well and had some chances to go ahead and didn't capitalize on those," said Head Coach Kevin Kennedy. "I was very disappointed with our mentality in the first minute of the second half to give up that goal, but we stayed in the game. We could have scored a little earlier and given ourselves a chance, but there are some positives to take away from this game."

Winthrop scored the match's opening goal just 43 seconds into the second half. Adriano Negri got free in the Georgia Southern defensive third and was able to rifle a shot past goalkeeper Neal Bates to give the visiting Eagles a 1-0 advantage in the 46th minute.

Winthrop went 2-0 up just nine minutes later as Negri scored again for Winthrop. The forward cleaned up a loose rebound in the box. Max Hasenstab's shot was saved by Bates, but the hard shot bounced out of his mitts and allowed him to score his second tally of the night.

The Eagles were given new life in the 72nd minute when a handball was called on Winthrop in the box. An outfield player for the visitors was called for swatting a Georgia Southern scoring chance off the line with his hands, sending Reed Norton to the penalty spot. The sophomore midfielder pulled the chance wide as the opportunity was thwarted.

Georgia Southern pressed forward as Winthrop's defense absorbed the pressure over the final minutes. The Eagles' tenacity paid off when Witt Carlisle got on the end of a through ball from Thomas Valikonis to cut the Winthrop lead to 2-1 with less than 30 seconds to play.

The goal, however, was too late as the Eagles would not get another chance in the final 27 seconds of the match.

The Eagles are back in action in the finale of the SoCon/Big South Challenge on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. GSU faces Gardner-Webb who dumped Wofford 5-4 in overtime to win Friday's first game. Winthrop faces Wofford on Sunday at noon to start the final day of the Tournament.

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