Men's Soccer | 9/1/2016 3:45:00 PM

STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern men's soccer team continues their season-opening road trek this weekend with a pair of matches in the state of Florida. The Eagles will first travel to DeLand, Florida for a Friday match at Stetson University before traveling to Jacksonville for a Monday contest against the Dolphins of Jacksonville University. Monday's match against Jacksonville was originally slated for Sunday, but due to Hurricane Hermine, the Dolphins had to alter their Labor Day Weekend schedule.

FRIDAY'S MATCH SNAPSHOT 
GS at Stetson
Friday, Sept. 2   |  7 p.m. EDT   |   Athletic Training Center (DeLand, Florida)
Live Stats   |   Video

MONDAY'S MATCH SNAPSHOT
GS at Jacksonville
Monday, Sept. 5   |   7 p.m. EDT   |   Southern Oak Stadium (Jacksonville, Florida)
Live Stats

SCOUTING THE HATTERS OF STETSON
The Hatters opened the 2016 season with a 2-1 road win over VCU in overtime. They followed that up by tying Old Dominion 1-1 two days later, also on the road. Following the season-opening weekend, Stetson is ranked seventh in the Southeast Region by the National Soccer Coaches of America Association (NSCAA).

Luke Ferreira leads all Hatters with four points off a goal and two assists. Gabriel Diniz and Ian McCaughley also have a goal, each with Diniz adding an assist. Diniz had the game-winner over VCU and had two shots with both being on goal while Ferreira and McCauley each took three shots. Paul Ladwig has played all 209 minutes between the pipes for the Hatters this season and has 19 saves already.

Stetson holds a slight 12-11-3 record over Georgia Southern in a series that dates back to 1981, including 8-3-1against the Eagles in DeLand. The two programs have played six overtime matches over the years with the Eagles winning four of those matches. The two have played each of the last three years with Stetson holding a 2-1 record over the Eagles over that stretch. The Eagles' last win in the series came on September 13, 2013 at a neutral location. The last time the two played in DeLand, on October 7, 2014, the Hatters won 5-2. The Eagles last won in DeLand on Sept. 23, 2005 when they recorded a 3-2 overtime victory.

2016 SU Roster
2016 SU Schedule
2016 SU Statistics

SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS OF JACKSONVILLE
Jacksonville enters the weekend with a 0-2-0 record after dropping their first two contests of the season to UNC Greensboro and Winthrop. The Dolphins opened the season with a 2-0 loss at home to the Spartans of UNCG before falling to the Eagles of Winthrop by a score of 2-1. Jacksonville is scheduled to play host to UNC Asheville on Saturday before turning attention to GS on Monday.

Diego Sanchez scored the Dolphins' lone goal on the year in last Sunday's 2-1 loss to Winthrop. Kai Bennett assisted on the score. Sanchez has five shots so far on the year while Sam Gardner has three. Patrick Harding has played all 180 minutes in goal for the Dolphins and has one save and four goals against.

Jacksonville holds a 12-7-3 all-time series lead over Georgia Southern. The two programs have faced off on the soccer pitch each of the last three years, and four of the last five. In the last four meetings, the have split the contests with both teams winning two games at home. In that stretch, the two teams have each scored nine goals. In the last three meetings, the Eagles have out-scored the Hatters 9-4 and have a 2-1 record. Last season, Georgia Southern won 5-0 at Eagle Field on Oct. 13, 2015. Hunter Loyden, Emil Laursen and Adam Abdellaoui all scored one goal in that last contest with Nick Wells setting up two of the goals and Thor Sveinbjornsson recording an assist.

2016 JU Roster
2016 JU Schedule
2016 JU Statistics

LITTLE EARNS FIRST WEEKLY AWARD OF SEASON
Georgia Southern men's soccer defender Justin Little was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week by the conference office Tuesday morning. Little was an instrumental part of the back row as the Eagles went 1-1 over the first weekend of the season. Little, a 5-11 true freshman from Warner Robins, Georgia, played all 90 minutes of both of the Eagles' matches at the Houston Baptist Tournament over the weekend and was a key component to Georgia Southern's defense that allowed just two goals on the weekend. Little also had an assist and took two shots.

WILSON RECORDS FIRST HAT TRICK FOR EAGLES SINCE 1999
In Friday's season-opener at Houston Baptist, Blake Wilson recorded Georgia Southern's first hat trick since Jeremy McClure and Jeff Russell each had one in 1999. Russell recorded the most recent hat trick prior to Friday night on Oct. 31, 1999 against Wofford. The three goals by Wilson is also tied for fourth-most goals by an Eagle in a single game. Wilson led off the scoring in the contest in the 12^th minute off a feed from Little and Sveinbjornsson. He then scored two goals in the second half, one off an assist by Christian Duncan and the other off a feed from Sveinbjornsson, to put the Eagles comfortably ahead of the Huskies by the final score of 4-1.

LAST WEEKEND RECAP
The John Murphy era for Georgia Southern men's soccer kicked off with a bang Friday night as the Eagles secured a 4-1 win over Houston Baptist at Sorrels Field in the season opener for both teams. The Eagles then fell 1-0 to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to close out their time in Houston. The Eagles were led in scoring by Wilson and freshman Sander Wang, who recorded his first collegiate goal in the 4-1 win over HBU. Sveinbjornsson had two assists on the weekend and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Chase Herzog played all 180 minutes between the pipes for the Eagles, recording one save.

NEXT UP
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. Following the men's game, the Georgia Southern men's soccer team will host a free youth boys clinic at Paulson Stadium. The clinic is slated for 6:30 – 8 p.m.


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