STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern fell in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Final Sunday afternoon from Eagle Field on the campus of Georgia Southern. The Eagles were defeated by the Hartwick College Hawks 1-0. With the loss, the Eagles' season ends with an overall record of 8-9 and 3-2 in the Sun Belt Conference.

"I was disappointed with our performance today, we weren't as sharp as we needed to be" said Head Coach Kevin Kennedy. "Congratulations to Hartwick, we told the guys that they would be dangerous on set pieces and they scored their goal off a corner kick. We weren't as dangerous in the attacking third as I would have liked, and that was the difference."

The opening half ended in a stalemate as neither team was able to score.  In the 13th minute, Hartwick College's Mike Rood put a shot on goal which was saved by Jack Falle. Midway through the first half, the Eagles applied pressure and created scoring opportunities while maintaining possession.

In the 28th minute, Blake Wilson put a hard struck shot on goal from 10 yards out but the shot was saved by Tom Buckner. In total, the Eagles and Hawks each took 3 shots in the opening half, while the Hawks had a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks.

The Hawks scored in the 65th minute to make the score 1-0. David Styles took a corner kick and served the ball in to the center of the six. The ball hit the ground and Jamie O'Grady one-timed it near post to put the Hawks ahead.  The goal, O'Grady's first of the year, proved to be the game winner. 

Overall, the Eagles were outshot 11-10 over the 90 minute contest. The Eagles placed 3 shots on goal, whereas the Hawks managed 6 shots on goal. Falle collected 4 saves on the day in the 1-0 setback.

I told the guys that there was nothing we could say as coaches to make them feel any better," added Kennedy. "The work begins for us tomorrow to get back to this game."

In their run to the finals, the Eagles earned 3 spots on the Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament Team.  Goalkeeper Falle, forward Emmanuel Raji, and forward Eric Dinka were each selected based on their performance during the tournament. Falle collected a total of 10 saves over their 2 matches, while Raji and Dinka each scored in the semi-final game against rival Georgia State. 

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