BOONE, N.C. - Georgia State advanced to the Sun Belt Championship match on Sunday after a thrilling shootout win over Georgia Southern Friday afternoon.

Down 3-0 in the first half, GSU rallied to make it 3-1 at half. Then, the Panthers tied the match at 3 with two goals in the second half to force OT. After two scoreless overtimes, it finally came down to the penalty kicks in the shootout.

GSU got five PK goals from Eddie Wilding, Cory Plasker, Hannes Burmeister, Lukas Joyner and the sudden death winner from Jad Elkhalil as Southern missed its sixth attempt when Luke Oesterle made the heroic save and thus GSU's 5-4 margin provided the victory.

In regulation, Georgia State got its three goals from Rashid Alarape, Eddie Wilding and Casey Shultis. The win follows six days after a 5-3 win over Georgia Southern in Statesboro, giving Georgia State another point in that series standings.

PENALTY KICK SHOOTOUT
GAST – Eddie Wilding – Converted (1-0)
GS – Emil Laursen  – Converted (1-1)
GAST – Cory Plasker – Converted (2-1)
GS – Addam Abdellaoui – Converted (2-2)
GAST – Hannes Burmeister – Converted (3-2)
GS – Matt Melton – Converted (3-3)
GAST – Max Hemmings – Saved (3-3)
GS – Chase Park – Converted (3-4)
GAST – Lukas Joyner – Converted (4-4)
GS – Hunter Loyden – Missed (4-4)
GAST – Jad Elkhalil – Converted (5-4)
GS – Jeremy Rector – Missed (5-4)

Sunday's Championship will be played at 1 p.m. against defending champion and No.1 seed Hartwick.

GSU, ranked No. 5 in the nation in scoring (2.38 goals per game) needed that offensive firepower when it got down early and had to rally from 3-0. The Panthers finished with a 19-10 shot advantage, 14-5 on goal advantage and 12-4 corner kick advantage.