(September 18, 2009) Georgia State men's soccer used goals from freshmen Caleb Kernan & Peter Vania to shut out North Florida, 2-0, Friday evening at Jacksonville, Fla.. The Panthers earned their second victory of the season on the road against the Owls to push their record to 2-1-1.
Georgia State was fueled by the play of its freshman class to propel them to its first victory against North Florida in the series. Freshman goalie Vincent Foermer finished the match with three saves and earned his first shut out of his career.
After a back-and-forth first half the Panthers struck first after a Georgia State corner kick the ball bounced around the box and freshman defender Peter Vania beat the North Florida goalie with less than five seconds remaining in the first half to give the Panthers a huge half-time boost leading 1-0. Junior midfielder Joe Castaldo was awarded the assist on the play to give Georgia State the momentum heading into the second half.
“It was a great service from Brett (Cummins), Peter (Vania) made a nice touch and scored a big time goal for us, said head coach Kerem Daser.” “It was great for our team to score a goal right before the half and really was a big boost for us.”
Three minutes into the second half the Panthers scored again after a cross from senior Brett Cummins went to freshman Caleb Kernan, who scored his first goal of his collegiate career to increase Georgia State's lead to 2-0.
“It was a great win for us and just a great team victory all around.” “We start seven freshman and our future continues to look bright for this program, Vincent (Foermer) played another solid game and great defense from Christopher (Peacos) & Ayokunle (Lumpkin).”
Senior Brett Cummins, from Powder Springs, Ga, helped the Panthers with his leadership finishing the game with four shots and one assist for the match.
Freshman Peter Vania started at the defender position for the first time this season and provided the Panthers with a huge boost scoring his first goal against North Florida.
“Peter has worked very hard and played a great 90 minutes tonight, commented Daser.” “ I'm extremely proud of peter for working hard and getting a great goal for us.”
Georgia State now improves to 2-0-1 against the Atlantic Sun conference this season and return home this Sunday to take on Big South member Gardner-Webb starting at 2 p.m. in Panthersville.
