CONWAY, S.C. – No. 2 seed Georgia State won a hard-fought contest over No. 3 seed Georgia Southern in a Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship rivalry clash on Saturday at Coastal Carolina Soccer Stadium.
 
The Panthers (12-6-1, 3-1-1 Sun Belt) now advance to Sunday’s championship match scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on ESPN3. GSU will face the winner of Saturday’s other semifinal match that will see No. 1 seed and tournament host Coastal Carolina (10-6-1, 4-1 Sun Belt) face No. 5 seed Howard (2-14-3, 0-3-2 Sun Belt).

The Panthers and Eagles (9-8-1, 3-2 Sun Belt) played a balanced first half with frequent possession changes and each team tallied three shots.  The difference was a Frank Rosenwald goal in the 33rd minute on an assist from Salomon Lorenzano that put the Panthers up 1-0.
 
The Eagles attack looked to be threatening in the 54th minute, but a quick counter by the Panthers led to a Max Hemmings goal.  Rashid Alarape was credited on the assist that put GSU up 2-0.
 
The Eagles were able to strike back with a Blake Wilson goal off a Javier Carbonell corner kick.  The 68th minute goal cut the margin to 2-1.
 
Lukas Joiner’s 78th minute goal that was assisted by Lian Fitzsimmons put the Panthers up for the final 3-1 score.
 
Stay tuned to www.sunbeltsports.org and the Sun Belt’s Twitter account – @SunBelt – for the latest information.