STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern men's soccer opened up its 2018 home schedule with a 3-0 victory over visiting North Florida on Friday evening at Eagle Field, the first win in a home opener since 2011.
The Eagles (2-0-1) also remained unbeaten on the young 2018 season, while North Florida fell to 0-3 on the year. Georgia Southern will be next in action on Saturday, September 7th, hosting Florida Gulf Coast in a 7 p.m. non-conference contest that will be televised on ESPN3.
The duo of freshman Adam Davie and senior Javier Carbonell once again hooked up for an early goal to stake the Eagles to a 1-0 lead. Just two minutes and 53 seconds into the match, Carbonell sent a ball up the left flank, hitting Davie in stride. Davie sprinted towards goal and beat UNF goalkeeper Padraic Gilley for his third goal of the season and the early one-goal lead.
The Eagles enjoyed a 10-5 edge in shots in the first half, but a 13-3 foul edge in favor of UNF gave the Ospreys chances to tie before intermission. Goalkeeper Jokull Blaengsson parried away a shot in the 26th minute to keep the Eagles up by one at the break.
In the second half, pinpoint passing allowed the Eagles to build a two-goal lead. In the 68th minute, redshirt freshman Edward Raji brought the ball to the left side of the box. His cross found sophomore Aldair Cortes in front of the goal, but his smart layoff to Carbonell resulted in an easy goal for the senior and the 2-0 advantage.
The Eagles finished off the scoring in the 78th minute as a long-range shot from freshman Eirik Høydal was initially saved by Gilley, but Carbonell was right there to head the rebound back in for his fourth goal of the season. Through three matches, the Sun Belt Conference's Newcomer of the Year in 2017 has already matched his goal total from a season ago.
Blaengsson then came up with a pair of late saves to preserve the shutout, the second of the season for the freshman and the Eagles as a team.
The win was the first in a home opener for the Eagles since a 3-0 victory over Presbyterian in the 2011 season.
"We started well to score a goal early," Head Coach John Murphy said. "It should have settled us, but I think it unsettled us, and North Florida fed off of that. At halftime, we tried to make some adjustments. The fact that we scored two goals in the second half kinda gave us a cushion, but Jokull [Blaengsson] had to be called upon to make some key saves to preserve the shutout. Defensively, we have some issues that we need to work with as a group, but as I just told the team, all the things that need to be improved can be improved. And I think to not play your best and come away with a 3-0 win at this level is a good sign."
Georgia Southern finished the match with a 19-9 edge in shots and a 9-4 edge in corner kicks. Blaengsson made four saves for the Eagles and Gilley made four saves in 82 minutes of action for the Ospreys. The foul count finished with 20 called on Georgia Southern and six called on North Florida. Each team was whistled offside twice in the match.
