Atlanta, Ga - The Georgia State men's soccer team dropped their first exhibition match of the season, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon as they took on the Georgia Southern Eagles in Panthersville in front of a crowd of more than 350 people.
After the Georgia State Panthers held the Georgia Southern Eagles scoreless for 75 minutes the Eagles scored on a free kick to give Georgia Southern a 1-0 lead that they would hold on to. Midfielder Matt Crowell took the free kick after a foul on Georgia State and got a deflection right into the right corner of the net to make it 1-0.
Only four minutes later the Eagles scored again off another free kick but this time forward Jon Cox blasted it just over the outstretched hands of goalie Zach Walldorff to make the final score 2-0 Eagles.
The Panthers had many opportunities in the contest as they outshot their opponents 13-7 for the afternoon. "We played a hard-working Georgia Southern team; overall it was a good test and improve on our fitness level for the next match," commented Coach Kerem Daser.
In a back-and-forth first half of play the Panthers had a couple of opportunities to strike first ending the half with five shots. In the 25th minute of play senior forward Stephan Minyono had a chance inside the box but Georgia Southern goalie Joey Ralph was able to come up with the save.
The freshmen class also played very well for Georgia State as Victor Nkhoma and Alex Vivanco each had a shot in the first half with both chances going wide.
Starting in goal for the Panthers was redshirt freshmen Zach Walldorff who made all three of his saves in the first half of play to keep the game tied at 0-0 heading into the second half.
The best chance for Georgia State came in the 85th minute when senior midfielder Brett Cummins blasted a free kick that hit the left post and Eagles goalie pounced on it just ahead of Minyono arriving for a follow to preserve the shutout.
"We had some chances and we made some freshmen mistake on the fouls but overall our defense was solid." "Chris Peacos and Joe Castaldo did an excellent job defending against the Eagles and we look forward to our next match," said Daser.
Georgia State returns to the pitch next week for their second exhibition match-up against the University of Alabama-Birmingham starting at 7 p.m. in Panthersville.
