2016 marked the third season for Geoff del Forn as the assistant coach for the Georgia Southern men's soccer program. Del Forn has nine years of experience as an assistant soccer coach at the Division I level. In his three seasons in Statesboro, he has helped guide the Eagles to a 22-25-5 record as GS has made the transition from the Southern Conference to the Sun Belt Conference, and he has been responsible for signing several strong recruiting classes for the Eagles. In all three of del Forn’s years with the program, the Eagles have earned byes into the semifinal round of the Sun Belt Championship and have appeared in the final once.
In 2016, the Eagles went 8-8-3 overall and 3-1-1 in Sun Belt Conference play, claiming a share of the regular-season league title with newcomer Coastal Carolina and earning a bye into the semifinal round of the Sun Belt Championship. The regular-season title is the first conference title for Georgia Southern in men’s soccer. The Eagles also ended the year 4-1-1 at home and 4-7-2 on the road. The Eagles’ 3-1-1 (.700) conference record was the best since the 2006 season when Georgia Southern went 4-1-2 (.714) in SoCon play. The 4-1-1 (.750) home mark was the best record in Statesboro for the men’s team since the 1997 season. That year, the Eagles went 6-1 at home.
During the season, the Eagles competed well against some of the best competition in the southeast. Georgia Southern defeated both Mercer and rival Georgia State on the road and were victorious over four teams that were ranked in the top-10 of the National Soccer Coaches of America Association (NSCAA) Southeast Region Poll. The victories included: 2-1 on the road over Stetson (7th at the time) on Sept. 2, 2-0 at home over North Florida (5th) on Sept. 24, 3-1 on the road at Georgia State (9th) on Oct. 8 and 2-1 at home against Hartwick (5th) on Oct. 22. The Eagles also took South Carolina to overtime, earned a 0-0, double-overtime draw at Coastal Carolina and took Clemson and Duke down to the wire in close, one-goal decisions. Murphy picked up his first win at the helm of the program on Aug. 26 as Georgia Southern easily defeated Houston Baptist 4-1 on the road. His first home win came against North Florida.
Following the year, four Eagle players were recognized by the conference office for their efforts during the season, including sophomore defender Emil Laursen earning Defensive Player of the Year honors to go along with Sun Belt Championship All-Tournament plaudits. Laursen and junior forward Blake Wilson were both named to the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team while junior Nick Wells and freshman Sander Wang earned second-team honors. Additionally, Laursen and Adam Abdellaoui were named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 4 First Team for their work in the classroom. During the year, Laursen, Wilson and freshman Justin Little picked up weekly awards from the league office. Laursen was a two-time Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week, Wilson was named Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week twice and Little picked up the first honors of the year with Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week honors in the first week of the season. Prior to the season, junior midfielder Thor Sveinbjornsson was named a Preseason All-Sun Belt selection.
In 2015, the Eagles wrapped up their second season in the Sun Belt with a 6-8-2 record. The Eagles recorded five shutouts on the season including three in conference play over Howard, Appalachian State and NJIT. The Eagles advanced to the SBC Tournament for the second straight year, ultimately falling 5-4 in PKs to rival Georgia State in the first round.
Five student-athletes were named to the Sun Belt All-Conference teams highlighted by senior Chase Park earning his second first team honor in as many seasons. Emmanuel Raji and Jeremy Rector were also named to the first team while Nick Wells and Jack Falle earned second team nods. Prior to the season, Raji and Falle were named the Sun Belt’s Preseason Offensive (Raji) and Defensive (Falle) Players of the Year.
The 2014 Eagles wrapped up their first season in the Sun Belt with an appearance in the SBC Championship game to cap an 8-9 campaign. GS, the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, bested arch-rival Georgia State 2-1 in their first tournament game before falling 1-0 to No. 1 seed Hartwick.
Following the season, five Eagles were named to the Sun Belt All-Conference teams including David Vargas Masis, Sveinbjornsson, Chase Park, Eric Dinka and Emmanuel Raji. Sveinbjornsson was also named the SBC Freshman of the Year.
Prior to arriving in Statesboro, del Forn worked for two seasons at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., helping the Paladins reach the national rankings both seasons. The Paladins’ top goalkeeper, Sven Lissek, recorded 10 shutouts in the 2013 season with a 0.74 goals against average. Del Forn also worked with 2013 MLS SuperDraft pick Walker Zimmerman.
In addition to working with the goalkeepers, del Forn was also responsible for the defensive system of play and helped to manage the recruitment process. While at Furman, del Forn was instrumental in the Paladins securing the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation, second only to Maryland.
Del Forn headed to Furman after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant under head coach Greg Hooks at USC Upstate. During his final year in Spartanburg, S.C., he helped the Spartans improve their win total by four and coached goalkeeper Jason McCabe to All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors.
Prior to his stint at USC Upstate, del Forn served as the recruiting coordinator and goalkeeping coach for two seasons at Washington & Lee University. The Generals earned a conference tournament bid and posted a 9-6-2 record in his first season in Lexington, Va.
At both Upstate and Washington & Lee, del Forn helped form FCA Chapters. Additionally, he worked at the Carolina Elite Soccer Academy as their Recreational Goalkeeping Director as well as an academy coach with their u11 and u12 squads.
As a collegiate player, del Forn played three seasons at the University of South Carolina, earning Conference USA Academic Honor Roll as well as Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll over his career. He also played in the Professional Development League (PDL) with the Atlanta Silverbacks U23 and trained with the Puerto Rico Islanders.
Del Forn holds his NSCAA National and NSCAA Advanced National diplomas and has six former players playing professionally: Walker Zimmerman (FC Dallas), Clint Ritter (Dallas Sidekicks), Martin Ontiveros (Hamm Benfica), Hakeem King (Trindidad & Tobago National Sand Soccer Team), Kareem Richardson and Sven Lissek.
A native of Gainesville, Ga., del Forn is married to the former Stephanie Wiltfang of Spartanburg, S.C. The couple has a daughter, Blakely, and a son on the way.
