STATESBORO - Georgia Southern scored a pair of goals in each half to knock off Appalachian State, 4-1, in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools on Friday afternoon at Eagle Field.

The two teams played at Noon on Friday after rain prevented the the match from commencing on Thursday night. When the dust settled, the Eagles (6-2-1, 1-0 SBC) finished with four goals against the Mountaineers (4-3-1, 0-1 SBC), just the third time since joining the league that Georgia Southern has scored four goals in a match against a Sun Belt opponent.

An even first 30 minutes of the match broke open quickly as Georgia Southern scored twice in a span of five and a half minutes to take a 2-0 first-half lead. In the 33rd minute, senior Taylor Regensburger uncorked a shot from the right side that App State goalkeeper Kerry Eagleston lost sight of in traffic, and it skipped past her into the net for Regensburger's first goal of the season. In the 38th minute, Regensburger's long diagonal ball found a sprinting Faith Phillips down the right side, and Phillips crossed the ball to the far post, leaving junior Alejandra Gracia wide open for a tap-in goal, also her first of the season.

Georgia Southern held a 10-3 edge in shots at the break.

"I'm very proud of our team just following the script," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Adams said. "In the first half we decided that they are a possesison-style team. We hadn't pressed for a while, so we thought if we could step high and press as a unit, we could smother them and play in their end. I think the team executed it to a T, we ended up with two goals for a 2-0 cushion at halftime."

In the second half, redshirt freshman Elis Nemtsov scored back-to-back goals to put the match away. Her first goal came in the 55th minute on a nifty through ball by graduate student Marcela Montoya, where Nemtsov beat Eagleston right for her fourth goal of the season. In the 64th minute, Nemtsov was the recipient of a give-and-go from Montoya and freshman Smith Cathey inside the box, where Cathey's cross found Nemtsov on the doorstep for her second goal of the match.

App State would cap the scoring in the 69th minute as a shot from the far post by Emma McGibany clanged off the woodwork and in, off of a cross from Audrey Viso.

"We talked about at halftime just keeping our foot on the gas," Coach Adams said. "Doing a bit more work to get a third one to have that margin for error. We got a fourth, but let them get one. It was a very good performance to win 4-1 in a conference game. I'm very proud of our energy and effort, and I'm pleased with the players coming off the bench and maintaining a high level of play."

Georgia Southern finished the match with an 18-7 edge in shots. English made three saves in net for Georgia Southern, while Eagleston made four saves for the Mountaineers and backup goalkeeper Kelli Bostick made one. The Eagles had a 3-1 edge in corner kicks. Georgia Southern was whistled for seven fouls and six offsides, while App State was whistled for four fouls and five offsides.

The Eagles return to action on Sunday, visiting Ole Miss for a 2 p.m. ET non-conference matchup against the Rebels in Oxford, Miss.