STATESBORO - Junior Aldair Cortes' pair of second-half goals helped Georgia Southern men's soccer collect a come-from-behind 3-2 win over visiting Wofford on Friday evening at Eagle Field.
The win halts a two-game slide for the Eagles (5-5), while the Terriers fall to 2-7 with the loss. The meeting between the former SoCon foes was the first since 2013. Georgia Southern returns to action on Tuesday, visiting South Carolina for a 7 p.m. contest against the Gamecocks in Columbia, S.C.
"You ask the kids to bounce back from a tough period for us," Georgia Southern Head Men's Soccer Coach John Murphy said. "And they did. Wofford were up for it, and we had to really grind and fight, so I'm pleased on several levels on the way we came back."
The Eagles started quickly as sophomore Adam Davie connected on a pass from Corey Irvine in the sixth minute to put Georgia Southern up by a goal. It was Davie's sixth goal of the season, equalizing his season total from his debut 2018 campaign.
Wofford answered in the 15th minute as a free kick from Sam Ross found the head of Ole Berg, who headed it inside the far post for his second goal of the year and a 1-1 deadlock. That's how the first half would end, with Wofford holding a 6-3 edge in shots.
The Terriers pulled ahead just shy of the 66' mark as Adrian Roseth got ahold of a deflected ball at the top of the box and rocketed a shot past Georgia Southern goalkeeper Jose Bomfim for a 2-1 lead.
Just two and a half minutes later, in the 69th minute, Cortes tallied the first of his two goals as a pass from midfield by David Rhoades was headed into the box by Asgeir Kristjansson and onto the foot of a streaking Cortes, who beat Wofford keeper Shane Berson 1-on-1 for the equalizer.
In the 82nd minute, Cortes then delivered his magic on a free kick, dipping a shot from 29 yards out into the upper ninety for the game-winner. It was his second game-winner on a free kick this season, after he defeated North Florida on an 88th minute free kick, 2-1, on Sept. 13.
The Eagles finished the match with a 14-13 edge in shots over the Terriers. Bomfim made one save in net for Georgia Southern, while Berson made three saves in net for Wofford. Georgia Southern had a 7-6 edge in corner kicks and there were 16 fouls whistled on the Eagles, compared to nine for the Terrriers.
"We had great performances from guys that are deeper in our team," Murphy said. "That shows our quality and depth. We're still one more game from getting into our conference season, and we're still working out tweaks like 95% of the teams in the country. Very few teams are the final product right now. But our kids' effort and application was excellent and the quality and our connections were better tonight."
