Almost a month and a half after student-athletes reported to campus, the Georgia Southern men's soccer team is finally set to open up the 2020 season when the Eagles travel to Columbia, S.C., on September 19th to take on South Carolina.

That's a month and a half that was filled with adversity, uncertainty and plenty more adjectives that can't truly describe what it's been for college athletics in the time of COVID-19.

But Head Coach John Murphy is excited that the Eagles are one of a handful of collegiate programs across the country that will be competing this Fall, and once the ball hits the pitch on Saturday against the Gamecocks, all of that uncertainty will be - for 90 minutes at least - stripped away, leaving the Georgia Southern coaches and student-athletes to concentrate on the game itself.

Needless to say, the 2020 preseason has been a challenging one, but one that Coach Murphy thinks his team has handled well.

"It's been more of a challenge for the players than it has been for the coaches," Coach Murphy said. "We put this big emphasis on coaching in American sports, but really it's been the student-athletes who have had to make the adjustment during this time. The ramifications for kids put in quarantine, and for kids who weren't available. It requires mental toughness to be a student-athlete at this level anyway, but then you add COVID-19 into the mix, and it's challenged these kids in a unique way. I'm very proud of how we've handled it. The training's been fantastic, and the energy has been really good. As games seemed further and further away, there was a little dip in energy, but we have been looking forward to going to Columbia on the 19th. Then we have three games in a week, and they'll be right back into the college routine soon enough."   

LOOKING TO THE LEADERS

Coach Murphy knows the importance of having leadership with his team in this very unusual season, and several have stepped up to the task. The captains for the Eagles this season are two returners - junior forward Adam Davie and graduate midfielder Jack Philp. Davie led the Eagles in goals last season with seven, and was named a Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference forward for 2020 in a vote of the league's coaches. Philp, meanwhile, played in 16 matches, starting 13, after transferring from former Sun Belt member Hartwick College.

In addition to the co-captains, Coach Murphy pointed out a few others who have stepped up to provide leadership during the preseason.

"I've been proud of kids like Lee Flowers, who's taken on a greater role and really stepped up. For a new player, Gaye Diadie has also done this, and of course both Aldair Cortes and Alhaji Tambadu, who have been with us for three years. Both have grown and matured into leadership roles. Our young kids are doing so well because of the leadership they've received from their teammates."

In all, the Eagles have six starters (Davie, Philp, Flowers, Cortes, Tambadu and goalkeeper Jose Eduardo Bomfim) and 11 returnees overall who saw action in last season's campaign. And each one of those returnees will be key for Georgia Southern to get off to a good start with the abbreviated schedule of 2020.

TAKING A STEP FORWARD

The Eagles have several players who Coach Murphy are expecting to take that next step forward this season and really use this opportunity to play as another part of their development on the pitch.

"I think Lawson Dooling, his growth from last year until now has been tremendous," Coach Murphy said of the redshirt freshman from Naples, Fla. "He offers something different than Adam [Davie], where you can play one or another, or even in tandem and get a different pattern, a different rhythm. 

"Jeremiah Luoma, who came in last year with high expectations. His freshman year was a bit muted, but he's an exciting two-way player with a great deal of pace and a strong mentality. He can create chances for himself and for others. And Chase Winters is another wide player, who plays in a different manner to Jeremiah. He's a real work horse who gives you everything on both sides of the ball. Very difficult to play against, very unpredictable, and very good in one-on-ones."

Coach Murphy also mentioned the work of a pair of redshirt freshman goalkeepers, Maverick Boring and Sai Brown. "They've really pushed the upper classmen in goal," Coach Murphy said. "That's a real compliment to them. The whole goalkeeping corps has set the standard for our team this year. The whole team has had to raise up because we have depth in that position.

DEPTH IS GOING TO BE KEY

Coach Murphy is pleased at the depth that the Eagles will have this season, and if there ever was a campaign where it's needed, the Fall of 2020 is certainly it. 

"I feel relatively confident, without playing a game yet, that we will have depth all over the pitch," Coach Murphy said. "We are going to need to be deep, to rotate and sub a lot more than usual because it's going to be an unusual season. But that's going to be one of our collective strengths. We have depth in the wide attacking areas, as well as in goal. I think people will see that when they see us play."

The Eagles have 32 players on the roster for 2020 - 27 field players and five goalkeepers. Of the field players, Georgia Southern has 10 defenders, 10 midfielders and seven forwards, though many of the Eagles have the ability to play multiple positions. 

AN INTRIGUING 2020 SCHEDULE  

When all was said and done in creating the 2020 Fall schedule, the Eagles have an opportunity to not only play for a Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championship, but perhaps have the truest champion the league has ever seen.

The four participating Sun Belt schools - Georgia Southern, Central Arkansas, Coastal Carolina and Georgia State - will each play home and home matches, giving the league it's largest conference slate since 1990. The Sun Belt has not had teams play a home-and-home schedule with league foes before this year.

"Every year I've been in the Sun Belt, it's been a small league," Coach Murphy said. "With only five or six games, if you get hot at the right time, which has happened for us, the balance swings in an extreme manner. But if you play everyone twice, you'll get a true champion from that. The true qualities will come out and you'll find out who was the better team on the day."

With the Sun Belt tournament also on the table, that means the potential for seeing the same team three times this Fall as well. "I think it will really intensify the rivalries," Coach Murphy said. "I have a lot of respect for my colleagues, and they did a tremendous job coming together and making the best of a challenging situation. But I'll have to say, our friendships may be a little dented after playing each other three times."

In addition to the season opener at South Carolina, the Eagles will also play traditional in-state rival Mercer, as well as a home-and-home with UAB. That gives Georgia Southern 10 regular season matches, which is one of the largest schedules of any team playing this Fall. Four of the 10 matches will be at Eagle Field, beginning with the home opener on Saturday, September 26 vs. UAB. The other home matches are on Saturday, October 10 vs. Central Arkansas; Saturday, October 17 vs. Georgia State and on Friday, November 6 vs. Coastal Carolina.

The 2020 Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer tournament semifinals will be on November 13 and the final will be on November 15 in Atlanta, Ga.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES AND BEYOND THE FALL  

The Sun Belt released its preseason 2020 poll and the Eagles were picked to finish fourth of the four teams - but each team received exactly one first-place vote, meaning it really is a toss-up as to which school will come away with the Championship. 

Three Eagles were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team - in addition to Davie, senior defender Aldair Cortes and junior goalkeeper Jose Eduardo Bomfim each earned spots on the squad.

There is also the possibility that November 15th might not be the end to the 2020 soccer season for the Eagles. The NCAA has suspended the Fall championship for men's soccer, but has said that moving the championship segment to the Spring is still on the table. If that decision ends up being made, there could be more soccer for the Eagles this season than what's scheduled for the Fall.

"The benefit from us playing now, is that there's no guarantees about playing in the Spring," Coach Murphy said. "As a coach, I'm appreciative that our conference, university and department has supported our kids playing in the Fall. If, for whatever reason, there's an opportunity to play in the Spring and we qualify for the NCAAs, I feel confident we have the support in place to be able to prepare for such an eventuality."

Whatever the outcome of the 2020 season for Georgia Southern - and for collegiate men's soccer in general - it will not be one to forget.