STATESBORO, Ga.  – A rain filled, chilly afternoon in Jonesboro, did not fare well for the Eagles, as Arkansas State defeats the Blue and White 3-1 on Friday. The Eagles will now look to earn a spot in the conference tournament Sunday against Little Rock, who currently sit in third place in the conference standings.

In the first half the Eagles and Red Wolves exchanged multiple fouls and Arkansas State held most of the possession. The Red Wolves would score first in the seventh minute after Sarah Sodoma collected a pass from Victoria Macintosh and Maggie Ertl and finished it into the back of the net. The first half would go on with little action happening and end 1-0.

In the second half Arkansas State would double their lead with a goal from Maggie Ertle who took a strike from the top of the box and scored. The Eagles would answer late with a goal of their own from Tyler Gordon. Moments later Maggie Ertl would score her second of the game and defeat the Eagles 3-1. The Blue and White will now travel down the road to take on the Little Rock Trojans on Sunday.

MATCH FACTS
Arkansas State (7-6-2, 4-4-0) - 3
Georgia Southern (5-11-0, 3-6-0) - 1

SCORING
7' - ASU - Sarah Sodoma (4) Maggie Ertl, Victoria Macintosh
48' - ASU - Maggie Ertl (3) 
80' - GS - Tyler Gordon (2) Marcela Montoya
86' - ASU - Maggie Ertl (4)

NOTES
- The Eagles were outshot 27-12 in the match and 14-4 on frame
- Jocelyn Springer collected 11 saves and has moved into 8th all-time on the single season saves list
- Tyler Gordon recorded her second goal of the season and continues to lead the Eagles in shots with 41
- The Red Wolves defeated the Eagles for the first time in the past four meetings
- The Eagles will look to earn a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Sunday against Little Rock

WHAT HEAD COACH BRIAN DUNLEAVY SAID
"Disappointing result, one we thoroughly deserved, Arkansas State did what was necessary to win, and we just didn't match up. Jocelyn Springer, Hannah Smith, and Claire Amici we're top notch today, all season they've given everything game in and game out but we ask a lot of them because we are missing some key attacking components and their jobs are made much more difficult. We play beautiful possession oriented soccer yet lose to teams that put the ball behind us and run. Arkansas State's style of play is very effective and I give them a lot of credit. We've got to dust ourselves off and move on, we have another chance on Sunday to get a playoff spot, so it's imperative we fight for our lives."
 
NEXT UP
The Eagles will head down the road to wrap up the 2018 season with a meeting against Little Rock on Sunday.