South Carolina Athletics

Men's Soccer 11/5/2020 1:00:00 PM

Panthers Conclude Regular Season Hosting Central Arkansas Friday

ATLANTA – The Georgia State men's soccer team will conclude the regular season and look to continue to build momentum leading into next week's Sun Belt Conference Championship hosting Central Arkansas on Friday at 1 p.m., at the GSU Soccer Complex.

It marks the second of two-straight home matches for Georgia State (8-2, 3-2 Sun Belt) to close out the regular season. The Panthers will be looking to extract revenge on Central Arkansas (3-4, 3-2 Sun Belt) which handed GSU its second loss of the season last month.

Georgia State will be in need of a win combined with a loss by Coastal Carolina at Georgia Southern to claim the No. 1 seed in the upcoming championship hosted by the Panthers. A CCU win or GSU loss and the Panthers would face the Bears again Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., at the GSU Soccer Complex.

The Panthers have opened the season on a record pace winning eight of their first 10 matches – tied for the most wins in 10 matches to start a season. It comes just a year after Georgia State went 6-0-3 to start the 2019 season.

Senior Aris Briggs and junior Matthew Fearnley lead the NCAA in goals (5), while Briggs also leads in points (13) with Fearnley is second with 11. The Panthers are outscoring their opponents 22-6 and lead the NCAA in goals and points (61). On defense, senior goalkeeper Paul Tyson leads the nation with a .848 save percentage and is tied for the NCAA lead with three shutouts.

MATCH NOTES

Georgia State concludes the regular season hosting Central Arkansas looking for revenge following a 2-0 loss in Conway, Ark., just two weeks ago.
With the Sun Belt Conference Championship next week in Atlanta, it appears the Panthers and Bears could face off again on Nov. 13. Georgia State needs a win and a Coastal Carolina loss to Georgia Southern to earn the No. 1 seed, otherwise both teams are locked into the No. 2/3 seeds.
Central Arkansas leads the all-time series 3-2 with the series tied 1-1 in Atlanta.
The Panthers split a pair of matches with the Bears last season. Central Arkansas won in Atlanta 2-0 on Nov. 2, 2019, but Georgia State responded with a 1-0 win in Boone, N.C., on Nov. 15, in the Sun Belt Conference Championship.

THE LATEST

After seeing a two-match winning streak snapped, Georgia State rebounded with a 2-0 win over Coastal Carolina on Sunday.
Senior George Proctor and junior Matthew Fearnley swept Sun Belt Conference weekly honors on Wednesday. It marked the fourth time this season the Panthers have swept the two awards.
Georgia State's eight wins in the first 10 matches is tied for the most wins in the first 10 matches in program history. The Panthers started the 1975 season 8-2, as well as 1981 and 2003 8-1-1.
In GSU's first 10 matches, 10 different players have scored. Aris Briggs and Matthew Fearnley have five goals each. Andrew Bennett, Jeryn Hodge, Justin Guest, and Logan Luque have each scored twice, while Simon Carlson, Ross Finnie, George Proctor, and Max Wilkins have each scored once.
Of a possible 14 Sun Belt Conference weekly awards, GSU has won nine after the sweep this week.
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.
GSU has gotten off to great starts in back-to-back seasons. Last season the Panthers started 6-0-3 before sustaining their first loss. This year the squad is 8-2 to start the season.

QUICK HITS

Entering Friday, Georgia State leads the nation with 22 goals and 61 total points.
Aris Briggs leads the NCAA with 13 points and is tied for the national lead with Matthew Fearnley with five goals. Fearnley also leads the NCAA with three game-winning goals, standing second with 11 points.
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.

PANTHERS RANK HIGH ON TOP 50 LIST

Members of the Georgia State team have been collecting honors on a weekly basis this year and that continued with SoccerWire.com's list of the Top 50 players in the country this fall. A total of eight Panthers were included on the list released on Oct. 28.
In ranking order: Alex Henderson (9th), George Proctor (t14th), Matthew Fearnley (t18th), Logan Luque (t35th), Ramon Munoz (t35th), Aris Briggs (t40th), Ross Finnie (t42nd), and Matthew Rios (t47th) were all recognized.

SUN BELT WEEKLY HONORS

GSU swept the Sun Belt weekly honors in the first three weeks of the year, brought home another honor in Week 5, and swept top honors again in Week 7.
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.
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 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.
Freshman Andrew Bennett garnered offensive honors in Week 5 after collecting his first two career college goals and adding an assist against Georgia Southern.
Matthew Fearnley and George Proctor swept the Week 7 honors. Fearnley scored a goal just 44 seconds into the match with Coastal Carolina, while Proctor added a goal from deep in the 30th minute.

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 was 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 history (109), behind only Scottie O'Neill (143), who coached the team from 1976-86.

Following the match on Friday, Georgia State will learn its fate entering the Sun Belt Conference Championship which begins on Nov. 13, in Atlanta. The Panthers can be anywhere from the Nos. 1-3 seed entering the tournament.

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Players Mentioned

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

#3 Matthew Rios: D; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#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

#21 Ramon Munoz: D; 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

Players Mentioned

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

#3 Matthew Rios
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: D

#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

#21 Ramon Munoz
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: D

#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