STATESBORO, Ga. - Aldair Cortes and Sebastian Gregersen each tallied goals to help the Georgia Southern men's soccer squad pick up a 2-1 non-conference victory over visiting Jacksonville University on Wednesday evening at Eagle Field.
The Eagles improved to 5-4 with the win over the Dolphins, who fell to 0-7 on the year. The match was originally scheduled for Sept. 10 during the Coastal Empire Challenge, but was postponed due to Hurricane Irma. Georgia Southern will now have a nine-day layoff before diving back into Sun Belt Conference play by hosting Georgia State on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. at Eagle Field.
Georgia Southern got off to a quick start, scoring its first goal just two minutes and 36 seconds into the contest. Blake Wilson's cross at the top of the box was one-touched into the box by Thor Sveinbjornsson, finding the feet of Cortes, who finished inside the far post for his second goal of the season.
The Eagles enjoyed a 10-2 edge in shots in the first half in taking the one-goal lead into the break.
In the 60th minute, Georgia Southern pushed its lead to 2-0 when, with the goalkeeper out, a shot by Wilson from the top of the box was cleared off the line by the JU defense. The clearance came right to Gregerson, who finished from 18' out for his second goal of the season - and second straight match with a tally.
Jacksonville answered quickly to cut the lead back to one. Kai Bennett's cross from the left side of the box in the 63rd minute found Allan Morgan, and Morgan's finish took a deflection and wound up in the back of the net to make the score 2-1.
Georgia Southern closed out the win, limiting the Dolphins to just two shots over the final 10 minutes, both on a sequence where Ejiroghene Mrabure's try from distance off of a corner kick in the 87th minute would be the final scoring chance for either team on the night.
"It was a hard fought game," Head Coach John Murphy said. "Jacksonville's not an 0-7 team. For me, they have an exceptional team spirit and work rate, and it really forces you to look in the mirror and make a decision on what you want to be as a team.
"I thought we really matched them for work rate and grit, and I think we had just a little more quaslity on the night, which makes all the difference."
The Eagles finished the night with a 16-9 edge on shots. Torgeir Fjaer picked up his first win in net this season, making a pair of saves in 90 minutes of action, while JU goalkeeper Patrick Harding made three saves. The Eagles had a 5-4 edge in corner kicks and were whistled for 15 fouls, compared to 11 for the Dolphins. There were six offsides calls against JU and two against Georgia Southern.
Red Flash Surge Past Bison
SFU’s big second half downs Howard
WASHINGTON (September 27, 2017) – After a scoreless first half, the Saint Francis (Pa.) Red Flash scored four goals to down Howard, 5-0, at Greene Stadium.
Nine different Bison attempted a shot, led by Joel Cunningham with two chances.
More than five minutes after halftime, SFU's Leonardo Ribeiro scored and put the Red Flash ahead, 1-0.
An own goal from Howard increased the Red Flash's advantage at the 58-minute mark.
Saint Francis' momentum continued as they registered three more goals and put the contest out-of-reach.
Defensively, Andrew Tamburro had a match-high seven saves in a losing effort.
Sunday, HU hits the road for a quick stop at Robert Morris before starting conference play. Match time is slated for 2:30 p.m. in Moon Township, Pa.