CONWAY, S.C. – The first match of the Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship saw No. 3 seed Georgia Southern advance after a 5-4 shootout versus No. 6 seed Appalachian State on Friday at Coastal Carolina Soccer Stadium.
 
The Eagles (9-7-2, 3-2 Sun Belt) advance to face No. 2 seed Georgia State (11-6-1, 3-1-1 Sun Belt) in the championship semifinals.  That match is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET on Saturday.
 
The Eagles controlled possession for much of the first half, but were not able to convert on any of their eight shots – only two of which were on goal.
 
The second half saw another six shots by the Eagles, three of which were on goal, but again chances were not converted and the two teams headed to overtime with no score.
 
Javier Carbonell tallied four shots, one on goal, for GS and Blake Wilson put a number of well placed crossing balls in position to be converted.
 
App. State’s Ian Bennett gave the Mountaineers (5-8-7, 0-3-2 Sun Belt) their best chance with a shot in the 105^th minute, but Eagles keeper Robert Flott kept the ball from crossing for a goal.
 
Each team converted their first three chances in the shootout round before Appalachian State keeper Jake Agnew saved an attempt.  Back-to-back misses by the Mountaineers followed and then a final conversion closed out the match in favor of the Eagles.

The Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Championship continues Friday with No. 4 seed Hartwick (7-8-2, 2-2-1 Sun Belt) facing No. 5 seed Howard (1-14-3, 0-3-2 Sun Belt).  All matches will be available for viewing on ESPN3.
 
Stay tuned to www.sunbeltsports.org and the Sun Belt’s Twitter account – @SunBelt – for the latest information.