STATESBORO - Campbell's Jacquel Thibaut converted a penalty kick in the 63rd minute to give the visiting Camels a 1-0 men's college soccer victory over host Georgia Southern on Saturday evening at Eagle Field.
The Camels improved to 4-2-1 with the victory, while Georgia Southern fell to 3-3. Campbell avenged a 1-0 loss to the Eagles in the last meeting between these two teams in 2017, and also improved to 8-2 in the overall series. Georgia Southern returns to action on Tuesday, visiting UAB for an 8 p.m. contest in Birmingham.
Georgia Southern started off the contest with most of possession, racking up five shots before Campbell recorded its first of the match in the 36th minute. Neither team could find a goal in the first half as the Eagles had a 6-5 edge in shots at the break.
The game turned on a play in the 63rd minute as a left-side run resulted in a foul right at the edge of the box. Campbell junior Thibaut Jacquel stepped to the spot and converted the PK, beating Eagle keeper Jokull Blaengsson to the right for his third goal of the season and the 1-0 advantage.
Georgia Southern managed just one shot in the second half - a try from distance by Asgeir Kristjansson that was deflected out for a corner kick - and Campbell enjoyed a 58-42 percent edge in possession for the match.
"It was a high-level game," Georgia Southern Head Men's Soccer Coach John Murphy said. "Campbell are a very good team. I thought they controlled good parts of the game. I also thought our effort can't be faulted, and the work rate was phenomenal, but there was just a lack of quality in our connections. Which we'll need to address in our game as we move forward. We just put a lot of effort into defending tonight, and when you put that much into defending, you don't have that much of the ball. I'm proud of the boys and their effort against a very good team in Campbell that's going to win a lot of games this year."
Blaengsson made a pair of saves in net for the Eagles, while Campbell's Samuel Lechuga notched a pair of saves as well. There were 11 fouls whistled against Georgia Southern and six against Campbell, including none in the second half. Campbell had an 8-4 edge in corner kicks, and each team was offsides once in the match.
