CONWAY, S.C. - Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year Aldair Cortes converted the winning penalty kick as third-seeded Georgia Southern men's soccer advanced to the semifinals of the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Championships on Friday in Conway, S.C. After an 0-0 draw with sixth-seeded Appalachian State, the Eagles advanced 5-4 in the penalty kick shootout.
Georgia Southern (9-7-1) will now face second-seeded Georgia State (11-6-1) in the semifinals on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. The two teams have met three of the past four seasons in Sun Belt tournament play, and the matchup will also be a "bonus point" situation in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series coming in a postseason tournament.
The Eagles entered the penalty kick shootout 0-4 all-time in such situations, all coming in conference tournament play. Appalachian State went first in the shootout and converted on its first four attempts. Blake Wilson, Sander Wang and Emil Laursen converted their tries for the Eagles, but Appalachian State goalkeeper Jake Agnew stopped Josh Bronstorph's try to give the Mountaineers one kick to win it.
Leading 4-3, the Mountaineers' Felix Kollmannthaler hit the left post with his try and the Eagles' Javier Carbonell converted his try into the left side netting to tie things up. Appalachian State's Tyquann Perinchief then hit the crossbar with his try, and Cortes stepped up and scored the winner to help the Eagles advance.
"Appalachian State is a good team, we knew it would be very very tight, so we actually prepared for this," Head Coach John Murphy said. "We prepared for penalties. We certainly don't play for penalties, we try to play to win, but sometimes it goes that way. The games tend to tighten up at this time of year. That's why I feel really confident about my team moving forward, even though this is a very difficult format of three games in three days, because defensively we're good and we have some great attacking players. I think this was our game that we needed to get some things out of our system. Appalachian State were really tough and now we're really looking forward to playing tomorrow."
The Eagles had numerous chances to find the back of the net in regulation, opening up the contest with six shots in the first 15 minutes of action, but Agnew turned away shots by Carbonell and Rasmus Juul to keep the match scoreless.
Georgia Southern goalkeeper Robert Flott made a punching save on a free kick by Felix Kollmannthaler in the 22nd minute, and the goalkeeper duel was on. Each keeper made five saves through regulation to keep their respective teams in the match.
The Eagles' best chances to score in the second half came in a five-minute sequence early on. Carbonell had a try from inside the box go wide right in the 52nd minute, then Cortes was in the box staring at an open net in the 54th minute but an Appalachian State defender was able to get a crucial deflection that forced Cortes' shot to go high.Â
The best chance for Appalachian State (5-8-6) before the PK shootout came in the 105th minute as Ian Bennett's dipping shot from distance was pushed aside by Flott. The Eagles' Nick Wells nearly had a game-stealing goal in the final seconds of the second overtime period, but again Agnew came up with the save.
The Eagles finished the match with a 15-8 edge in shots and Flott made five saves for the Eagles, while Agnew came up with seven saves for the Mountaineers. Georgia Southern had a 10-2 edge in corner kicks and were whistled for 12 fouls, compared to 11 for Appalachian State. The Eagles were offsides three times on the day and the Mountaineers were offsides once.
