CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a rematch of last year's first round NCAA Tournament game, Georgia State men's soccer went head-to-head with No. 10 Charlotte Tuesday night at TransAmerica Field and came away with a 1-0 upset to hand the 49ers their first loss of the season.
The win snapped GSU's two-match losing streak and improved the team to 7-2-3 overall, while Charlotte – which entered Tuesday's match as one of only eight remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division I – took its first loss of the year and moved to 8-1-3 on the season.
Tuesday was the fourth time under GSU head coach Brett Surrency the Panthers have knocked off a ranked opponent, as Georgia State last defeated No. 2 Wake Forest in a 3-2 overtime thriller in 2017. Surrency improved his mark at GSU to 96 career victories, four wins away from becoming just the second head coach in school history to reach 100 career wins.
“I'm proud of the guys tonight and their ability to bounce back after the disappointment of Saturday,” Surrency said. “They truly had to compete and grind with everything they had tonight and I'm very pleased for them.”
Charlotte controlled majority of the possession in the opening 45 minutes of play but was unable to create any legitimate scoring threats as the 49ers headed to the break with 11 total shots but none on goal.
GSU, meanwhile, was limited in its first-half attempts – taking just two total shots – but made the most of its opportunities by putting both on target and found the go-ahead score in the 26th minute when sophomore forward Matthew Fearnley bended in a strike from just outside the 18-yard box that sailed into the upper left-hand corner of the goal.
The Ashton-in-Makerfield, England, native has recorded a goal in each of Georgia State's last four matches and bumped his season total to five, the second most on the team.
Charlotte continued to stay aggressive in the second half and again kept the ball in its attacking third of the field for much of the period. The 49ers got one of their best chances of the night in the 71st minute off a header from near the 6-yard box but were unable to capitalize as the shot bounced off the crossbar and was quickly cleared away by the GSU back line.
Charlotte ended the night with a 23-4 advantage in total shots and 4-2 edge in shots on goal. GSU keeper Paul Tyson finished with four saves and his fourth shutout of the season, the most among all goalies in the Sun Belt.
Georgia State is back in action 1 p.m. Saturday for a Sun Belt matchup against Howard in Washington, D.C.
“Saturday will be the biggest game of our season to date and starting tomorrow we will be fully focused on going to Howard for a difficult Sun Belt Conference road match,” Surrency said.
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