Bree Hicken

Men's Soccer 10/9/2020 1:00:00 PM

Men's Soccer Travels to Face Coastal Saturday

Panthers Looking For Best Start in Program History

ATLANTA – Looking for its best start to a season in program history, Georgia State will travel to face Coastal Carolina on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., at the CCU Soccer Stadium.

Georgia State (5-0, 1-0 Sun Belt) just completed a three-match homestand without allowing a goal. The Panthers have outscored the opposition 13-2 this season. The last time Georgia State recorded four-straight shutouts was in 2016.

With the win over Mercer on Tuesday night, the Panthers matched their best start in program history and will now look to become 6-0 for the first time.

Coastal Carolina (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) will be playing its first match of the season on Saturday. The Chanticleers are playing a six-match conference-only schedule this fall.

Senior Aris Briggs, a two-time Sun Belt Player of the Week selection this year, leads the nation in points (11), goals (4), and assists (3).

THE MATCHUP

Georgia State begins a stretch of four-straight matches away from home facing Coastal Carolina on Saturday for the first time this year.
The Panthers are currently off to a 5-0 start which matches the best mark to start a season last accomplished in 2003.
Coastal Carolina leads the all-time series with Georgia State 10-5-1, including a 4-2 mark in Conway.
Georgia State and Coastal have met for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title in three of the last four seasons.
Coastal Carolina is playing a limited fall schedule of just six Sun Belt Conference games. This will mark the Chanticleers first game of the season.

THE LATEST

Georgia State scored a 2-0 win over Mercer on Tuesday night to improve to 5-0 on the season while sweeping the Bears in two matches this year.
Georgia State has pitched shutouts in three-straight matches for a second-straight season. The last time the Panthers pitched four-straight shutouts was in 2016.
A win on Saturday would give the Panthers their best start in program history.
In GSU's first five matches, eight different players have scored goals. Aris Briggs has four goals, while Matthew Fearnley has three goals. Jeryn Hodge, Simon Carlson, Logan Luque, Justin Guest, Ross Finnie, and Max Wilkins have each scored once.
For a third-straight week, Georgia State has swept Sun Belt Conference weekly honors. Aris Briggs (Offensive) and Gunther Rankenburg (Defensive) garnered recognition on Wednesday. It was Briggs' second honor of the year.
Georgia State was named the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week on Sept. 21, following the Panthers 2-1 season opening win over Mercer.
Senior forward Aris Briggs took home a trophy case of hardware in Week 1 earning three awards. He scored two goals against Mercer including a header in the 81st minute that proved to be the game winner. For his efforts, he earned the following awards.
- Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week
- United Soccer Coaches Players of the Week
- TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Week
Georgia State is undefeated through five matches for a second-straight year. The Panthers started last season unbeaten in their first nine matches - a school record. The previous school record of seven games with a loss to start the season was set in 1967.

QUICK HITS

Senior forward Aris Briggs leads the Sun Belt Conference with 11 points and four goals, and is tied for the league lead in assists (3). Matthew Fearnley is second in the league with seven points and three goals, while George Proctor is tied with Briggs with three assists.
Last year Aris Briggs finished with 16 goals and one assist for 33 total points. His 16 goals ranked seventh among all players in Division I men's soccer and ranked tied for ninth in the GSU record book for goals scored in a single season. He led the Sun Belt in total points (33), points per game (1.65), goals (16), goals per game (0.80).
GSU has appeared in five-straight Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship Games, last earning the title in 2018 before appearing in the NCAA Tournament.

SUN BELT WEEKLY HONORS

Georgia State seniors Aris Briggs and Paul Tyson earned Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honors on Sept. 23, following a 2-1 win over Mercer to start the season. Briggs finished with two goals, while Tyson made seven saves keeping the Bears off the scoreboard in the first half. It marked the second time that Briggs was honored in his career and the fourth time that Tyson was recognized.
Matthew Fearnley and George Proctor swept the Week 2 awards. Fearnley scored the first goal of Georgia State's 3-1 win over South Carolina, while Proctor impressed on the backline that allowed just one late Gamecock goal.
Briggs and sophomore Gunther Rankenburg swept the honors in Week 3 after the Panthers earned wins over UAB and Georgia Southern. Rankenburg pitched shutouts in both matches while Briggs finished with a goal and two assists.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE ACCOLADES

Georgia State had four players named to the 2020 All-Sun Belt Preseason recognition, including Aris Briggs, Matthew Fernley, Ross Finnie, and Paul Tyson. Briggs was named the league's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. He and Tyson have earned preseason recognition in each of the last two seasons.

TYSON NAMED TOP 10 GOALKEEPER BY TOPDRAWERSOCCER.COM

Georgia State senior goalkeeper Paul Tyson has been named one of the top 10 goalkeepers in the country entering the 2020 season by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
Tyson, a native of Liverpool, England, earned 2019 Sun Belt All-Tournament Team honors last year after guiding the Panthers to a fifth-straight Sun Belt Conference Championship Game appearance.

REACHING TRIPLE DIGITS

GSU head coach Brett Surrency reached the 100-win plateau in the regular season finale last year. He has led GSU to 11 or more wins in three consecutive seasons and is the only coach in GSU history to take the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament.
Surrency is currently the second-winningest head coach in GSU men's soccer history (106), behind only Scottie O'Neill (143), who coached the team from 1976-86.

Following Saturday's match, Georgia State will continue a stretch of four-straight games away from home on Tuesday traveling to Birmingham, Ala., to face UAB at 8 p.m. ET.

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Players Mentioned

#1 Paul Tyson: GK; 6' 7"; Senior

#10 Matthew Fearnley: M; 5' 10"; Junior

#4 Ross Finnie: M; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#15 Justin Guest: M; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#16 George Proctor: D; 6' 1"; Senior

#19 Max Wilkins: F; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#23 Logan Luque: M; 5' 11"; Junior

#31 Aris Briggs: F; 6' 4"; Senior

#33 Gunther Rankenburg: GK; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#12 Simon Carlson: MF; 5' 6"; Freshman

#27 Jeryn Hodge: F; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#1 Paul Tyson
: 6' 7"; Senior
: GK

#10 Matthew Fearnley
: 5' 10"; Junior
: M

#4 Ross Finnie
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: M

#15 Justin Guest
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: M

#16 George Proctor
: 6' 1"; Senior
: D

#19 Max Wilkins
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: F

#23 Logan Luque
: 5' 11"; Junior
: M

#31 Aris Briggs
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F

#33 Gunther Rankenburg
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: GK

#12 Simon Carlson
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: MF

#27 Jeryn Hodge
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: F