Jacksonville, Fla. --- The Georgia Southern men's soccer team suffered their first loss of the season, 2-1, against Jacksonville (2-6-3, 0-2-0 A-SUN) on Tuesday night (October 1st).
The first half for the Eagles resulted in the same outcome in all but two of their matches so far this season in that they could not produce a goal. The Dolphins were the aggressors early on offense as they produced six total shots on the half, but it was the Eagles who had seven in the opening 45 minutes. The only corner kick of the first half was for the Eagles, but they could not capitalize.
Right out of the gates after the break,
Matthew Dean tracked down a ball in the Dolphins' box and was pulled down by a Jacksonville player for the Eagles to have a penalty chance. Instead of
Ryan Holmes, who has been the only penalty kick taker so far this season, it was
Ricky Louis who stepped up and delivered a strike right down the middle of the shoot to put Southern up 1-0 just 45 seconds in the second half.
However, the Dolphins stamped their foot down defensively as they only allowed four Eagles' shots the entire half and only two shots were on target for Southern the entire match. In the 52nd minute, Jacksonville's Cristobal Molina-Campo delivered the equalizer after a blocked free kick from JU landed right in the lap of Molina-Campo past an already off-guard
Nate Martinez.
In the 77th minute, Jacksonville was on the attack again as Michael mancuso pinpointed a low cross to an open and waiting Oscar Resano for the game-winner with just 13 minutes to go. The Eagles could not muster any more shots as the final whistle blew to end Southern's unbeaten streak.
Jacksonville only outshot the Eagles by one, 11-12, but while the Dolphins had six shots on goal, the Eagles only had two. Martinez had four saves on the night for Southern and it was a relatively quiet night with the whistles. For Georgia Southern, it was only the second time this season they have allowed two or more goals.
Next up for the Eagles (4-1-3, 0-0-1 SBC) is a return to conference play as they travel to Coastal Carolina on Friday, October 4th. Kickoff is set for 7 PM in Conway.
