Men's Soccer | 11/4/2016 12:30:00 PM

STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern men's soccer team will close out the regular-season Saturday night with a critical Sun Belt Conference game against long-time rival Appalachian State. The game between the Eagles and Mountaineers will serve as Senior Night for the Eagles and will kick off at 7 p.m. at Eagle Field.

MATCH SNAPSHOT 
Appalachian State vs. Georgia Southern (Senior Night)
Saturday, Nov. 5   |  7 p.m. EDT   |   Eagle Field (Statesboro, Ga.)
Live Stats   |  Live Video (GS All-Access)

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
The series with Appalachian State is the fourth longest in Georgia Southern men's soccer history with 29 previous meetings and has been contested each year since the 1992 campaign. The Eagles have faced Mercer 47 times, Georgia State 38 times and Davidson 30 times. The Mountaineers currently hold a slight 15-13-1 advantage over the Eagles, but GS leads App State 6-5 in Statesboro. Georgia Southern has claimed the last three meetings, all 1-0 decisions, and has earned a positive result in the last four meetings with the Mountaineers.

App State is coached by first-year head coach Jason O'Keefe. The Mountaineers are currently 5-7-4 on the year, including tying No. 5 Charlotte 1-1 in double overtime on the road in their most recent game. App State has recorded three positive results in the last three games after starting the year 0-4. The Mountaineers are 1-2-1 in Sun Belt Conference play heading into the final weekend of the regular season and are currently tied for fourth in the league with Hartwick.

The Mountaineers have been led this season by Stephen Chapman's eight goals and 18 points. He has played in 15 games, starting 14 and has converted all five of his penalty kick attempts. Jordan Melia and Rian Philips are tied for second on the team with two goals each, but Melia is second on the team with six points as he also has two assists on the year. Chapman and Philips lead the team with two game-winning goals each. Five Mountaineers have played in all 16 games this season with Melia and Ian Bennett having started each contest. In goal, Jake Agnew has started 10 games and played in 12, making 32 saves while allowing just eight goals while facing 108 shots. He boasts a record of 4-2-4 with three shutouts.

2016 App State Roster
2016 App State Schedule
2016 App State Statistics

SENIOR NIGHT FOR THREE EAGLES
Saturday marks Senior Night for the men's soccer program. Three Eagles will be playing their final regular-season game at Eagle Field Saturday night, including redshirt junior Chris MacMurray, fifth-year senior Aidan Reising and four-year starter Jeremy Rector.

A defender/midfielder from Hilton Head, S.C., MacMurray has played in 27 games for the Eagles during his career, making 19 starts. An economics major, he was named to the 2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Academic Honor Roll. On the field, he has scored one goal off five shots and he also has recorded two saves in goal as he slipped on the goalie gloves and stepped between the pipes for the Eagles on the road at LIU Brooklyn last season. MacMurray's goal last season came in the fourth minute at South Carolina, putting the Eagles up 1-0 at the time. As a redshirt freshman in 2014, he made 13 starts on defense and helped the team record five shutouts on the season, averaging 81 minutes per game.

A fifth-year midfielder/defender from Gainesville, Ga., Reising has played in 60 games over four years and has earned 43 starts. An information technology major, he has twice been named to the Sun Belt Conference Academic Commissioner's List (2015 and 2016). For his career, Reising has scored one goal off 22 shots, with nine being on frame. His goal, scored as a redshirt freshman in 2013 against Jacksonville on Oct. 22, proved to be the game-winner over the Dolphins. That season, he helped guide the Eagles to four shutouts and he was a part of five shutouts the following year. In all four years of his playing career, Reising has been a part of 13 shutout victories for the Eagles. This season, he has played in 14 games, starting seven, and has played 754 minutes.

A senior from Duluth, Ga., majoring in management, Rector has earned Sun Belt Conference Academic Honor Roll honors the last two years. He has played in 64 games, making 53 starts for the Eagles in four years, playing over 4,314 minutes. He has scored 10 goals in his career, the most by any active player, and he has also recorded six assists giving him 26 points, also the most of any active player. As a freshman in 2013, Rector earned SoCon All-Freshman team honors after scoring three goals, two of which were game-winners. That season, he started 13 of the 17 games he appeared in. He also scored three goals as a sophomore and again as a junior in 2015. Last season, he ended the year with a career-high nine points off his three goals and three assists and earned All-Sun Belt Conference First-Team honors. So far this season, Rector has played in every game, earning 16 starts, and has scored one goal off 24 shots and has played a career-high 1,418 minutes.

FANS ENCOURAGED TO BRING LAWN CHAIRS TO THE GAME
Georgia Southern invites fans to bring their own lawn chairs to all home soccer games and sit in the grassy areas to the sides of the goals just off of the playing surface. Tents are not allowed and pets must be kept off the track and field.

GEORGIA SOUTHERN ATHLETICS TO AID LOUISIANA FLOOD RELIEF
Georgia Southern student-athletes are joining together to help raise funds for flood relief in Louisiana. GS Athletics will be asking patrons to join this effort during football, men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball home games until Nov. 7. The money raised will be presented at the home football game against the UL Lafayette on Nov. 10.

This cause is a significant for one of the Georgia Southern student-athletes. The Sun Belt has two peer members based in Louisiana and while only one student-athlete hails from the Bayou State, she was directly affected by the disaster. The home of Taylor Thompson's grandmother was destroyed due to 4 feet of flood waters. Thompson is from Baton Rouge – one of the hardest areas hit - and is a senior on the GS women's golf team. The student-athletes at Georgia Southern find it particularly meaningful to be able to directly help someone with such a close tie to this university.

Georgia Southern student-athletes will be at each home game collecting funds. The athletes will be holding buckets located at the guest relations tents near Gate 8 and Gate 12 for football games, and at the entrance of the facilities for soccer and volleyball games. Georgia Southern is asking the fans of both teams to give generously for such an important cause. Cash or checks made out to "Georgia Southern Athletic Foundation" will be accepted. Donations can also be made at the Athletics Ticket Office on Lanier Drive during normal business hours or online at GSEagles.com/Login.

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 17 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 37 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 for37^th in all of NCAA Division I.

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.

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
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the race for the top spot in the Sun Belt Conference is still wide open. Georgia State currently occupies the top spot with nine points, but Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern are just two points behind. App State and Hartwick are also both in the mix for higher seeds with four points each. A win is worth three points while a draw earns both teams a single point.

This weekend, Howard travels to Hartwick, Georgia State travel to Coastal Carolina and App State will travel to Statesboro. Final seeds for the Sun Belt Conference Championship will be announced Saturday night.

WILSON, LAURSEN, FJAER AMONG NATION'S BEST IN THREE STATISTICAL CATEGORIES
Junior forward Blake Wilson, sophomore defender Emil Laursen and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Torgeir Fjaer are all currently nationally ranked in at least one category.

Wilson is currently tied for 51^st in the nation with eight goals scored in goals while Laursen is tied for 37^th in the nation with three game-winning goals. Fjaer is currently tied for 13^th nationally with 5.08 saves per game.

LAST TIME OUT
The Georgia Southern men's soccer team fell 2-0 to Howard on the road Saturday night at Greene Stadium in Sun Belt Conference action. The Bison scored two goals in the second half to secure the win in their home finale.

NEXT UP
Saturday night's Sun Belt Conference match with App State marks the end of the regular-season for the Eagles, but there is still more soccer to be played as GS is guaranteed a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Championship next week. The SBC tournament will be held in Atlanta, Ga., and hosted by Georgia State. Georgia Southern will not know its opponent until after all three conference games are played Saturday night.


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