Statesboro, Ga. --- The Georgia Southern men's soccer team defeated Prebyterian College 2-1 on Thursday evening (September 11th), marking their third straight victory of the season.

It would be a hot start for the home squad as just five minutes into the match, Mitch Picksley would use a dominant offensive front to find space near the corner flag and deliver a ground ball into the box. Luckily for him, an awaiting Ricky Louis would come sprinting in to secure a touch into the back of net, surrounded by defenders, to give his Eagles the early 1-0 lead. The chances continued sporadically for Southern, as both Edan Sears and Tomas Morales would both just come short on their chances to extend the lead. 

Seeing these missed opportunities, Louis received a pass, turned and sprinted with possession at the 33-minute mark. After speeding by a few Blue Hose defenders, he fired a shot from just past the D into the top corner past the awaiting keeper to double his goal count and double the lead for Southern. For Louis, he leads the team in goals (4) and points (8) while also being the first Eagle to have a multi-goal outing on the season. 

With only two whistles blown the entirety of the opening 45 minutes, they would ramp up tremendously in the final frame. However, Presbyterian would not go down easily. In the 54th minute, the Blue Hose's Iragi Kalala capitalized on an Eagles' misplayed ball by turning, shielding the ball and poking a left-footed shot that snuck into the corner of the net. For the Eagles it would be their first goal allowed all season across over 400 minutes of game action. It would also stop their longest clean sheet stretch in program history at four matches. On the pitch, though, there was a game still left to be played.

With now just a one goal deficit, the Blue Hose ramped up their intensity and pressure tenfold. From then on, 15 fouls were called across both teams in the final 35 minutes of game action, including three yellow cards and two reds. A player from each squad were each given a red card and ejected after a short exchange in the 76th minute, leaving it as a 10v10 in the final 14 minutes. The Eagles were able to fend of the tying goal, including a fantastic save at the final second from Nate Martinez on a set piece ball from beyond midfield that had pinpoint accuracy at the top of the net.

Despite a 6-1 advantage for the Eagles in shots for the first half, the Blue Hose put up six of their own in the second half to the Eagles' seven. While the corner kick margin favored the Eagles 5-3, the fouls were lopsided against the home squad, with ten called on the Eagles to just three on Prebyterian. 

Georgia Southern keep their unbeaten record in town as Jacksonville ends a two-match home stand for the Eagles. Kickoff at Bo Pitts Field is set for this upcoming Monday (September 15th) at 6 PM against the Dolphins.