STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern Men's Soccer made its triumphant return to the friendly confines with a 5-0 thrashing of Jacksonville on Tuesday night. The Eagles scored in the fifth minute and never looked back en route to the largest victory of the season. Next up for the Eagles is a visit to Washington, D.C. to face winless Howard on Saturday afternoon in the second Sun Belt match of the season.

MATCH FACTS
Jacksonville University (3-9-1) - 0
Georgia Southern (3-5-1) – 5

SCORING
5' – GS – Hunter Loyden opened his scoring account for the season with a close-range goal to give the Eagles an early lead. A free kick from Thor was delivered into the penalty area where it bounced and misplayed by the JU goalkeeper. Loyden knocked the ball across the line from the center of a goalline scrum.
24' – GS – Emmanuel Raji doubles the Georgia Southern advantage following a nifty backheel pass from Alfonso Ochoa. The pass sprung Raji one-on-one with the keeper who he beat for a 2-0 advantage for the home side. Raji's goal was his team-high fourth of the season.
27' – GS – Freshman Emil Laursen made it 3-0 just three minutes later when he capitalized on some nifty footwork by Nick Wells at the edge of the box. Wells danced around a JU defender and delivered a cross to Laursen at the center of the box. Georgia Southern's "Super Swede" bashed the ball home for the Eagles' final goal of the first half and the first of Laursen's collegiate career.
63' – GS – Alfonso Ochoa tallied his third point of the match following another solid cross from Wells. The sophomore forward whipped a cross from the byline to Ochoa at the penalty spot who slipped the ball into the net. Ochoa's goal was his first collegiate score.
71' – GS – The rout was well-and-truly on as Adam Abdellaoui scored a 35-yard free kick to put the game on ice. He made it 5-0 with his first goal of the season.

NOTES
- Goalkeeper Jack Falle recorded his second shutout of the season while making three saves against seven total Jacksonville shots.
- Georgia Southern's five-goal performance is the largest scoring output of the season and the highest total since Sept. 12, 2014 when the Eagles took a 5-4 win over Florida Atlantic.
- Tuesday's game was the first home contest for the Eagles in more than a month. The last home game came on Sept. 2 when the Eagles defeated Presbyterian College, 2-0.

WHAT COACH KEVIN KENNEDY SAID
"We were very happy with the final score. We highlighted some specific facets of the game that we wanted to be exceptional in before the match and I thought we were. We were very happy to get five goals from five different players and some very good team goals. I'm also happy for the team to get the shutout, Jacksonville is always a very tough opponent."

NEXT UP
Georgia Southern travels to Washington, D.C. on Saturday for a matinee against the Howard Bison as conference play returns. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Greene Stadium just north of downtown.

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