Men's Soccer | 8/25/2016 4:04:00 PM

2016 GS Men's Soccer Online Media Guide

STATESBORO – After playing two exhibitions during the preseason at home, the Georgia Southern men's soccer team opens the 2016 season with four straight road games, including two this weekend in Houston, Texas. The Eagles will participate in the Houston Baptist Tournament this weekend where they will take on Houston Baptist in the season-opener followed by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Sunday.

FRIDAY'S MATCH SNAPSHOT 
GS at Houston Baptist
Friday, Aug. 26  |  8 p.m. EDT  |  Sorrels Field (Houston, Texas)
Live Stats

SUNDAY'S MATCH SNAPSHOT
GS vs Texas Rio Grande Valley
Sunday, Aug. 28  |  2 p.m. EDT  |  Sorrels Field (Houston, Texas)
Live Stats

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES OF HOUSTON BAPTIST
Friday's match with the Huskies will be the regular season-opener for both programs. Houston Baptist played St. Edward's in an exhibition on Sunday, August 21. St. Edward's defeated HBU by a score of 4-0 in the preseason warmup.

Houston Baptist returns 17 letterwinners from last season, including eight starters, but the Huskies did lose their top four offensive producers from a season ago. That quartet accounted for 24 of HBU's 29 goals. Last season, the Huskies went 9-8-2. 2016 will mark the 11^th season for head coach Steve Jones who boasts a record of 71-81-17 in his first 10 seasons.

The Eagles and Huskies have met on the pitch twice before, but have not met since 1981. Each program claimed one of the previous meetings with Georgia Southern taking the first match 3-0 at a neutral site in 1980. The Huskies won the second meeting between the two, also on a neutral field, 2-1 the following year.

2016 HBU Quick Facts
2016 HBU Roster
2016 HBU Schedule

SCOUTING THE VAQUEROS OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY
Texas Rio Grande Valley is a relatively new program in NCAA Division I. The Vaqueros sponsored men's soccer from 1972 until 1997 when the team was dropped. UTRGV then added the program back with the Vaqueros competing in 2015 for the first time in nearly 20 years. 2016 will mark the second year for head coach Paul Leese who currently holds a 63-36-13 record over six years as a head coach.

UTRGV played two preseason exhibitions, going 0-1-1, including a 2-1 loss on the road to Incarnate Word and a draw at home to St. Edward's. The Vaqueros open the season in Houston Baptist's tourney against Fairfield University on Friday at 6 p.m. EDT before the Eagles take on the Huskies. Sunday will be the first meeting between GS and UTRGV.

2016 UTRGV Online Media Guide
2016 UTRGV Roster
2016 UTRGV Schedule

NEW COACH FOR THE EAGLES
For the first time in a decade, the Eagles will hear a new voice on the sidelines as John Murphy takes over as the seventh head coach in program history. He brings over 20 years of coaching experience to Statesboro, including 10 in the professional ranks where he coached in over 300 games both in the United States and abroad. Murphy has coached at college powerhouses as well as successful professional teams and has also turned programs around for the better. He was most recently at Boston College as the associate head coach for two seasons. He has been a collegiate head coach at Anderson University (S.C.), Assumption College and Massasoit Community College.

PRESEASON HONORS FOR SVEINBJORNSSON
Georgia Southern men's soccer junior midfielder Thor Sveinbjornsson has been named to the 2016 Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference Team as the conference office announced the preseason honors and coaches poll Tuesday morning.

The Eagles were chosen to finish fourth in the league behind newcomer Coastal Carolina (first), Hartwick (second) and Georgia State (third). Appalachian State was picked fifth and Howard was chosen sixth to round out the 2016 preseason coaches poll.

Sveinbjornsson, the 2014 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and 2014 All-Sun Belt Conference First-Team selection, is earning the distinction for the second straight year as he was also named a 2015 Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference selection. As a sophomore in 2015, Sveinbjornsson appeared in 15 of the Eagles' 16 matches, making 13 starts. He recorded one assist on the season and took 17 shots with six being on frame. The year prior, he scored two goals, including the game-winner against Appalachian State on October 25, 2014.

PRESEASON PREPARATION
Murphy and his new squad of 25 players haven't had much time to waste on pleasantries. Murphy arrived on campus the weekend before preseason began and he and the team hit the ground running. Despite the expedited time frame, the Eagles haven't rushed the building process as they continue to work on the smallest, most basic details of the game.

After just a week of practicing, going through drills and scrimmaging against each other, the Eagles got the opportunity to test their mettle against outside competition when they played SCAD and UNC Asheville in a pair of home exhibitions. GS defeated SCAD 3-0 before falling 2-1 in a weather-shortened game against the Bulldogs of UNCA.

NEXT UP
The Eagles will close out the season-opening road swing with a trip to Florida next weekend. GS will first head to DeLand, Florida, where the Eagles will face off against the Hatters of Stetson on Friday, September 2. Georgia Southern will then swing through Jacksonville where the Dolphins of Jacksonville University will await a Sunday, Sept. 4 tilt.

Georgia Southern will open the home portion of their 2016 slate on Friday, Sept. 9 when the Eagles host James Madison as part of a men's and women's soccer doubleheader. The Eagle men and JMU play at 4 p.m. and the Eagle women will then host Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. at Eagle Field.


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