JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Victor Gustafsson and Blake Wilson each tallied goals to lead the GS men's soccer team to its first win of the 2017 season with a 2-1 victory over host North Florida on Friday evening at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Eagles improve to 1-2 on the young season, while the Ospreys fall to 1-2 with the loss. Georgia Southern returns to action on Monday, hosting No. 5 Clemson at 7:00 p.m. at Eagle Park. The Eagles are attempting to set a new attendance record in their home opener with the Tigers coming to Statesboro. The game will feature free pizza, free vuvuzelas, a team ball raffle and kids activities, including a moon bounce.

Georgia Southern struck first in the 28th minute as Gustafsson fired a shot from just outside the box that caromed off of a North Florida defender and looped over goalkeeper Thor Pederson's outstretched arms for the 1-0 lead. 

The Eagles kept that one-goal lead into halftime. Georgia Southern held a 10-3 edge in shots at the break.

In the second half, Georgia Southern picked up a crucial second goal in the 54th minute. Gustafsson received a ball just past midfield and his backheel sprung junior Javier Carbonell on a run towards goal. Carbonell dribbled to the right side of the box and crossed a pass left to Wilson, who's shot clipped a diving Pederson and rolled into the net for the 2-0 advantage.

North Florida frantically tried to get back into the match over the last 15 minutes, eventually getting a goal with 41 seconds left in the match as Josh Castellanos fired a shot that was initially saved by the Eagles' Robert Flott, but the rebound was put in by Castellanos for the score.

On the restart, the Eagles were able to run down the rest of the clock and secure the victory, the second straight in the series between the two regional rivals. Georgia Southern improved to 7-5-1 overall against the Ospreys and won its fourth out of the last six meetings.

"This is a fantastic win for the team," Head Coach John Murphy said. "I'm really pleased with the kids. I didn't feel that we were as bad as the two shutout losses we received last weekend in Charleston. I felt there was a little bit more. Coming here to Jacksonville to play a very good North Florida team, a team that's done a lot of things we want to do, that's been a consistent winner and qualified for NCAA tournaments - we have a lot of respect for them. This is a good regional rivalry and I thought it was a well-played game."

Shots finished even at 16-all, with the Eagles tallying seven on goal and the Ospreys notching five. Flott made four saves in net - all in the second half - for the Eagles while Pederson made five saves in net for North Florida. Georgia Southern held a 6-5 edge in corner kicks and were called for 14 fouls, compared to 10 for the Ospreys. The Eagles were offsides six times on the night and the Ospreys were whistled for offsides once.

"For the first three quarters we were on top, and actually we should have had an additional goal on top of the two we had," Murphy said. "And as all good teams do, North Florida came back, and at the end it was hairy, with a lot of bending, and we eventually broke. There just wasn't enough time for them to reply with another one, luckily for us.

"I think you saw growth with the team today, It was great to see Blake Wilson get off his slide, I thought Victor was the player of the match, he had fantastic all-around game plus the goal, and our back four and goalkeeper Robert Flott were strong. I'm very, very pleased, it was not an easy game for us to play."