Men's Soccer Opens MAC Championship Thursday

ATLANTA – Earning the No. 3 seed, the Georgia State men's soccer team will open the MAC Championship on Thursday at 4 p.m. facing No. 2 seed and No. 14-ranked West Virginia in Dekalb, Ill., on the campus of Northern Illinois.

It will mark the Panthers first appearance in the MAC Tournament in their first year in the league after jumping three teams to qualify for the championship following a 2-1 double-overtime win over Georgia Southern last Thursday. Georgia State will also be looking to extract some revenge against the Mountaineers who earned a 2-1 win over the Panthers just two weeks ago.

Thursday's match can be seen live on NIU All Access. The winner will face the winner of No. 1 NIU/No. 4 Bowling Green for the MAC Championship on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Georgia State (11-5-0, 3-3-0 MAC) saw four players earn All-MAC honors on Wednesday. Senior George Proctor and junior Gunther Rankenburg each garnered All-MAC First Team honors while junior Ross Finnie and freshman Ethan Sassine earned All-MAC Second Team honors.

West Virginia (11-2-4, 4-1-1 MAC) also had four players earn All-MAC recognition and enter the championship having won four-straight matches.

Sassine leads Georgia State with six goals and 13 total points this year while junior Max Wilkins, who scored the game winner against Georgia Southern, is second on the team with five goals.

Rankenburg has started every minute in goal for the Panthers this year and has 55 saves which is tops in the MAC.

MATCH NOTES

No. 3 seed Georgia State faces No. 2 seed West Virginia for the second time in a two-week span.
The Panthers and the Mountaineers will be meeting for the third time. Along with the meeting two weeks ago that went to the Mountaineers 2-1, GSU traveled West Virginia in 2013 falling 1-0.
In the first match-up, George Proctor got the Panthers on the board in the 25th minute with a penalty kick goal. Dyon Dromers tied the game for the Mountaineers in the 59th minute before Ciro Bourlot Jaeggi scored the game winner with less than two minutes to play in regulation.
This will mark the first time Georgia State is playing on a neutral field since the 2019 Sun Belt Championship game in Boone, N.C.
The Panthers are one of just 39 programs in the country to have reached 11 or more wins so far this season as of standings on Wednesday morning. Three of those teams reside in the MAC.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY

GSU has reached the Championship Game of the conference tournament the last six years. All six of those appearances were in the Sun Belt Conference.
GSU has combined for a 6-4-4 record in conference tournament play the last six years.
The Panthers last won a conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2018. GSU also failed to advance three times to the NCAA Tournament after falling in PK's (2015-Hartwick, 2019-Coastal Carolina, 2020-Coastal Carolina).

TOP HONORS

Georgia State saw four players earn All-MAC honors as announced by the conference office on Wednesday.
George Proctor and Gunther Rankenburg earned All-MAC First Team honors. Proctor was the Sun Belt Player of the Year as well as Defensive Player of the Year last season.
Junior Ross Finnie and freshman Ethan Sassine earned All-MAC Second Team honors. Sassine led the Panthers with six goals and 13 total points this year. It marks the third time Finnie has earned all-conference honors.

NEW HOMES

Georgia State has a pair of new homes this season. GSU opened the new GSU Soccer Complex at 188 MLK Jr. Drive SE in August. The location previously housed the GSU Football team for 10 years.
The Panthers second new home this year is the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Panthers along with in-state rival Georgia Southern joined the league earlier this summer. In fitting fashion, the two schools faced off in the final match of the regular season.

QUICK HITS

Last time out, Georgia State earned a 2-1 double-overtime victory over Georgia Southern which secured the Panthers a spot in the MAC Tournament. With less than seven minutes to play, Max Wilkins found the back of the net which helped the Panthers jump Bowling Green, Western Michigan and Akron in the conference standings.
Having already picked up their 10th win of the season, GSU has now won at least 10 matches in five of the last six seasons. The lone year Georgia State did not win 10 matches was last year when the program went 9-2-2 due to a shortened schedule because of COVID-19.
In the month of October, the Panthers faced four teams either ranked or receiving votes in the College Soccer News Top 30 poll. Georgia State picked up a win over No. 13 Akron which was the first MAC win this year and seventh time in program history defeating a ranked opponent.
In Georgia State's win at UAB in September, GSU picked up the 500th win in program history.
As of Tuesday, Georgia State is tied for the fifth-most road wins (6) of any team in the country. Washington leads the way with eight.
Georgia State's +13 goal differential is tied for the 43rd-best mark in the NCAA.
The Panthers are averaging 2.06 goals per game which ranks 29th in the nation.
Senior Matthew Fearnley became the first CoSIDA Academic All-American in program history last spring, while both he and fellow senior Logan Luque earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors. He is now one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START, BUT HOW YOU FINISH

Georgia State enters the Mid-American Conference as one of the newbies along with Georgia Southern. Despite playing in six-straight conference tournament championship games and making an appearance in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the Panthers were selected sixth in the annual MAC Preseason Poll as selected by the coaches.

2021 MAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll (regular season finish in BOLD)
1. West Virginia - 40 (3) 2
2. Akron - 39 (1) 6
3. Bowling Green - 38 (2) 4
4. Western Michigan - 30 (1) 5
5. NIU - 22 1
6. Georgia State - 17 3
7. Georgia Southern - 10 7
(*) First Place Votes
MAC Champion: WVU (3), BGSU (2), WMU (1) Akron (1)

REACHING TRIPLE DIGITS

GSU head coach Brett Surrency reached the 100-win plateau in the regular season finale of the 2019 season. He had led GSU to 11 or more wins in three consecutive seasons before last season where the Panthers played only 13 matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He 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 (121), behind only Scottie O'Neill (143), who coached the team from 1976-86.

WHAT'S NEXT

With a win, Georgia State will advance to the MAC Tournament Championship Game on Sunday at 1 p.m. facing either No. 1 seed Northern Illinois or No. 4 seed Bowling Green.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Matthew Fearnley: M; 5' 11"; Senior

#4 Ross Finnie: M; 5' 9"; Junior

#23 Logan Luque: M; 5' 10"; Senior

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

#1 Gunther Rankenburg: GK; 6' 3"; Junior

#9 Max Wilkins: F; 6' 2"; Junior

#19 Ethan Sassine: F; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#10 Matthew Fearnley
: 5' 11"; Senior
: M

#4 Ross Finnie
: 5' 9"; Junior
: M

#23 Logan Luque
: 5' 10"; Senior
: M

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

#1 Gunther Rankenburg
: 6' 3"; Junior
: GK

#9 Max Wilkins
: 6' 2"; Junior
: F

#19 Ethan Sassine
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: F