STATESBORO - Georgia Southern men's soccer earned its first win of the 2023 campaign in shutout fashion against UNC Asheville, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field. The victory avenges last season's road loss to the Bulldogs and earns Lee Squires his first Division I victory as a head coach.

The match started slowly as neither side could break through to score in the first half. Asheville (1-1-0) would shoot the ball four times to Georgia Southern's (1-1-0) one shot, but neither side would take an advantage into the half. Both sides had three corner kicks in the first half, and Nate Martinez notched a save after 45 minutes of play.

Seven minutes into the second half, Jack Ireland would tee up a penalty kick and drill it into the bottom right corner of the net, setting the Eagles up with a 1-0 lead and its first goal of the season. With less than six minutes remaining in the contest, Alex Smith would break through a pair of defenders and leave them in the dust, with only the UNCA goalie separting him from the goal, which he navigated past and scored the second goal of the contest, putting a wrap on the match and setting Georgia Southern up with a 2-0 victory.

The match was very physical and gritty, as a combined seven cautions were called, five on UNCA and two on GS. Asheville tallied a total of 14 fouls to Georgia Southern's 12.

Martinez finished the match with three saves after notching two more in the second half, recording the first clean sheet of his career.

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Georgia Southern travels south to Fort Meyers, Florida, to take on Florida Gulf Coast in a battle of the Eagles. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1.