Statesboro, Ga. --- The Georgia Southern men's soccer team defeated the FGCU Eagles 2-0 on Friday night at Bo Pitts Field, marking their first win of the season.
The first half started much like that of their opening contest against Wofford, but the Blue and Gold got far more opportunities this time around. At the half break, Georgia Southern amassed eight shots, to which four were saved by the FGCU keeper. The defense stood strong once again, holding the Eagles to just three shots in the opening 45. Each team also had two corner kicks and six fouls each, making it an even contest going into the final half.
With the first few minutes of the second looking to be another stalemate for Georgia Southern,
Julien Seher saw space and an opportunity in the 53rd minute as he crossed it from outside the box to the left side of the keeper's nest where
Ricky Louis leaped high above his defender and placed a solid header on target for the Eagles first goal of the season and Louis' first of his career. But Georgia Southern did not relax at all offensively.
Two minutes later, Louis served in another ball from the right corner to
Harvey Sarajian in the opposite box side waiting, who just got a head on the ball that dribbled over to
Mitch Picksley. With just a tad bit of space in the box, Picksley was able to poke it in the bottom right corner of the nylon to double the Eagles' score. The rest of the match saw Georgia Southern expertly play defense, as the match concluded with the 2-0 victory. The final is the first time in program history that the squad were able to defeat FGCU.
Georgia Southern doubled up on FGCU's offensive production, outshooting them 14-6. Each team were evenly split in fouls and yellow cards issued while FGCU led in corner kick chances at 7-5. Offensively, it was
Ryan Holmes who had the most chances with his three shots, two of which on target. Defensively,
Nate Martinez picks up his second straight clean sheet in as many matches on the season with three more saves from the night's match added to his total.
With the next two matches being away from Statesboro, Louis says "Tonight was a breakthrough and it's very motivating for us. We're a great group and I really do think we can go far, especially in the Sun Belt Champiosnhips. We just have to focus and win our two road games coming up."
The first two matches of the season marks the first time since the 1993 season where Georgia Southern has not allowed a goal in in the year's first two matches.
The next match for the Eagles is this upcoming Friday, September 6th, in DeLand, Fla. where Stetson plays host for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
