Men's Soccer | 10/28/2016 10:30:00 AM

STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern men's soccer team takes their 2-0-1 Sun Belt Conference record on the road this weekend to Howard University for a key Sun Belt Conference showdown in Washington, D.C. The Eagles and Bison will play Saturday, Oct. 29 at Greene Stadium with kickoff coming at 7 p.m.

MATCH SNAPSHOT 
Georgia Southern vs. Howard
Saturday, Oct. 29   |  7 p.m. EDT   |   Greene Stadium (Washington, D.C.)

SCOUTING THE BISON
Entering Saturday's game in Washington, D.C. the Eagles and Bison are currently tied 1-1 all-time. The Bison claimed the first meeting between the two back in 2014 in Statesboro and the Eagles earned a 2-0 win at Greene Stadium last season. Howard is coached by third-year head coach and Howard alum Phillip Gyau. The Bison are 3-45-7 under Gyau, including 1-11-1 in the Sun Belt.

This season, Howard is currently 1-13-3 and 0-3 in Sun Belt play. The Bison's lone win on the season came on Sept. 3 against VMI. The win snapped a skid of nine straight games without a positive result and 25 games without a win. The Bison finished games against LIU Brooklyn, Central Connecticut State and Robert Morris in draws. In Sun Belt play, the Bison have been out-scored by their opponents 7-1.

Howard is led on offense by Andres Gomez and Daniel Hart's two goals each. Joel Pagan, Isaac Mbappe and Kenneth Hersey each have one goal. Hart leads the team with five points with Gomez close behind with four. In goal, Hersey has played in 15 games, allowing 26 goals for a goals against average of 1.70. He has made 86 saves on the year and recorded one shutout to go along with his 1-9-3 record.

2016 Howard Roster
2016 Howard Schedule
2016 Howard Statistics (Updated 10-14-16)

ABDELLAOUI AND LAURSEN EARN COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
Georgia Southern men's soccer student-athletes Adam Abdellaoui and Emil Laursen have earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 4 First-Team honors it was released by the organization Thursday morning. Abdellaoui and Laursen were the only Sun Belt Conference student-athletes to be recognized on the men's side.

Abdellaoui, a junior computer science major from Alpharetta, Ga., currently boasts a 3.47 GPA. He has played in all 16 games for the Eagles, earning 11 starts, and is tied for third on the team with two goals. He is currently second on the squad with seven points and he is tied for tops on the team with three assists. On the year, Abdellaoui has taken 36 shots, second on the team, and has put 10 of those shots on frame. He has converted his one penalty kick attempt.

Laursen currently holds a 4.00 GPA as a sophomore economics major. A defender from Silkeborg, Denmark, he has made 12 starts on the back row for Georgia Southern, playing every minute of nine games so far this season, including four overtime contests and helped the Eagles record a shutout against Coastal Carolina.  He is 1-2 on penalty kicks, and has three game-winning goals on the year. His three game-winners leads the team, is tied for tops in the Sun Belt and has him tied for 27^th in all of NCAA Division I.

LAURSEN NAMED SUN BELT CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Georgia Southern men's soccer student-athlete Emil Laursen has earned his second weekly award of the season from the Sun Belt Conference after leading the Eagles to a 1-0-1 record last week, including a 2-1 victory over Hartwick this past Saturday. The sophomore defensive back was named the SBC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week Tuesday morning by the conference office for the third time in his career.

Laursen and the Georgia Southern men's soccer team extended their current streak of games with a positive result to five with a 1-0-1 record last week, including the crucial 2-1 Sun Belt Conference victory at home over Hartwick on Saturday night. Between the two games, including a double-overtime draw at Presbyterian College last Tuesday, Laursen played all 200 minutes and recorded his third game-winning goal of the season while anchoring the Eagles' back row.

In Tuesday's game at Presbyterian, the sophomore from Silkeborg Denmark not only helped anchor the back row of the Eagles but also came forward to take three shots, one on goal. Despite conceding an early goal to the Blue Hose, Laursen and the Eagles' defense hunkered down and went on to play the next 130+ minutes without conceding another goal. In Saturday's win over Hartwick, Laursen scored the game-winning goal with a beautiful header off a left-footed corner from freshman Sander Wang in the 58^th minute. The Eagles withstood six shots from Hartwick in the second half, 10 total.

For the year, Laursen has played every minute of nine games, including four overtime games. He has a team-best three game-winners and is second on the team with three goals scored. His three game-winners has him currently tied for 27^th in NCAA Division I this season.

GEORGIA SOUTHERN SEVENTH IN SOUTHEAST REGION POLL
Georgia Southern moved up to seventh in the NSCAA Southeast Region poll earlier this week. The Eagles are one of three schools ranked in the poll, including Georgia State in sixth and Hartwick in 10th. Charlotte remains atop the poll, with Kentucky second, Florida Gulf Coast third, South Carolina fourth and North Florida fifth.

EAGLES AGAINST TEAMS RANKED IN THE SOUTHEAST REGION POLL
The Eagles' 2-1 victory over Hartwick on Saturday, Oct. 22 marked the fourth time this season that GS has defeated a team ranked in the top-10 of the NSCAA Southeast Region Poll. Hartwick entered the week fifth in the region. Earlier this year, the Eagles beat Stetson (seventh) on Sept. 2, North Florida (fifth) on Sept. 24, and Georgia State (ninth) on Oct. 8. The wins over the Hatters and Panthers came on the road.

MOVING ON UP THE RPI STANDINGS
Georgia Southern has been moving up the NCAA Rating Percentage Index (RPI) in the last few weeks. The RPI is a ranking system used to rank teams based upon the team's record and strength of schedule. Two weeks ago, the Eagles were 151 before moving up to 141 last week. This week, GS is 113, marking a 28 spot increase after going 1-0-1 against Presbyterian and Hartwick. The Eagles boast wins this season over four top-100 teams in North Florida (24), Mercer (48), Georgia State (63) and Hartwick (83) and they also tied Coastal Carolina (47).

BEST IN THE PEACH STATE
The state of Georgia features three NCAA Division I men's soccer programs in Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Mercer. Earlier this season, the Eagles defeated both programs on the road to stand alone atop the Peach State. In those games, GS out-scored the Panthers and Bears 5-2.

THE RACE FOR THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
With two weekends left in the regular-season, the race for the top spot in the Sun Belt Conference is still wide open and it could come down to the final weekend of games. Currently, Georgia Southern and Coastal Carolina are atop the standings with seven points each. However, the Eagles are undefeated in conference play with a 2-0-1 record while the Chanticleers are 2-1-1 with a loss to Hartwick.

Behind the Eagles and Chants, Georgia State is third with six points and a 2-1 league mark while Hartwick and Appalachian State are tied for fourth with four points each. The Hawks are 1-1-1 while the Mountaineers are 1-2-1. Howard is sixth with a 0-3 SBC record.

This weekend, Georgia Southern travels to Howard while Hartwick travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia State. The final weekend of the season will see Howard travel to Hartwick, Georgia State travel to Coastal Carolina and App State will travel to Statesboro.

WILSON, LAURSEN, FJAER AMONG NATION'S BEST IN FIVE STATISTICAL CATEGORIES
Junior forward Blake Wilson, sophomore Emil Laursen and redshirt freshman Torgeir Fjaer are all in the top-50 in the national rankings for individual performances this week.

Wilson entered the week tied for 26^th in goals scored (8) and tied for 50^th in total points (18). Laursen is tied for 27^th in the nation with three game-winning goals. Fjaer started the week tied for 12^th nationally with 5.45 saves per game and is tied for 43^rd with a .800 save percentage.

Wilson is also atop the Sun Belt Conference standings with 43 shots and he is currently second in the league with 2.87 shots per game, 18 points, 1.20 points per game, eight goals scored and 0.53 goals per contest. Laursen is tied for tops in the conference with his three game-winners. Fjaer is second in the Sun Belt with 5.45 saves per outing and his .800 save percentage has him third in the league. He is also third in the Sun Belt with a 1.28 goals against average.

LAST TIME OUT
The Georgia Southern men's soccer team battled hard for 90 minutes Tuesday night, taking nationally-ranked Clemson down to the wire at Historic Riggs Field. Despite a furious battle and several good looks by the Eagles, the No. 5 Tigers were able to escape with a 1-0 win off a goal that came in the 84^th minute.

The Eagles, playing their first nationally-ranked team of the year, were able to apply heavy pressure at times on the Tigers. In the opening minutes of the second half, freshman Josh Bronstorph had the best look for the Eagles as he accepted a pass from midfield and appeared poised to score, but his shot from the left of the box went high and just left. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Torgeir Fjaer made two saves on the night in goal for the Eagles as the offense accounted for six shots compared to 15 by the Tigers.

NEXT UP
Georgia Southern will close out the regular-season next Saturday, Nov. 5, with the Eagles' annual Senior Night against long-time rival Appalachian State. GS will honor the team's two seniors, Jeremy Rector and Aidan Reising. The Eagles and Mountaineers will kick off at 7 p.m. at Eagle Field.


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