Men's Soccer 11/13/2021 10:00:00 AM

Panthers Play for MAC Championship Sunday

ATLANTA – Playing in a seventh-straight conference championship game and looking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, the Georgia State men's soccer team will face No. 19 Northern Illinois on Sunday in Dekalb, Ill., for the MAC Championship.

After earning the No. 3 seed, Georgia State (12-5-0, 3-3-0 MAC) will be facing the top seed Northern Illinois (13-2-2, 4-0-2 MAC) on their home field while looking to knock off a second-straight ranked opponent.

The Panthers advanced to the championship game defeating No. 14 West Virginia on Thursday as junior Justin Guest's deep blast found the back of the net with just under 15 minutes to play. The Huskies reached the title game defeating Bowling Green 5-2 in the second semifinal.

With that win, Georgia State has now defeated multiple ranked opponents in the same season for the first time in school history.

This marks the Panthers first appearance in the MAC Tournament in their first year in the league. Georgia State will also be looking to extract some revenge against the Huskies who earned a 2-1 overtime win over the Panthers just three weeks ago.

Sunday's match can be seen live on NIU All Access for free. The winner will receive the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. With a loss, the Panthers would have to see if they are given an at large berth to the tournament. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Monday.

Freshman Ethan Sassine, who earned All-MAC Second Team honors leads Georgia State with six goals and 13 total points this year while junior Max Wilkins, along with Guest, are tied for second with five goals each.

All-MAC First Team member Gunther Rankenburg has started every minute in goal for the Panthers this year and has 56 saves which is tops in the MAC. He has also helped pitch five shutouts this season.

MATCH NOTES

No. 3 seed Georgia State faces No. 1 seed and host NIU for the second time in a three-week span.
The Panthers and the Huskies will be meeting for just the second time. The first came on Oct. 23, as NIU earned a 2-1 victory over GSU in Atlanta. NIU outshot GSU 24-7 that night, but it took a Pepe Martinez goal four minutes into overtime to secure the win.
Georgia State will be playing for a conference tournament title for a seventh-straight year.
GSU is one of just 25 programs in the country to have reached 12 or more wins so far this season as of standings on Friday morning. Ironically, two of those teams reside in the MAC (GSU and NIU).
This marks the second time in three years and third time in five years the Panthers have won 12 matches. GSU didn't accomplish it last year but played just 13 matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Georgia State has already defeated two ranked opponents this season (#13 Akron and #14 West Virginia). It marks the first time in program history defeating two ranked opponents in the same season. The Panthers now have eight wins all-time over ranked opponents.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY

GSU has reached the Championship Game of the conference tournament the last seven years. The last six of those appearances were in the Sun Belt Conference.
GSU has combined for a 7-4-4 record in conference tournament play the last seven 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

On Thursday, Georgia State earned a 1-0 win over #14 West Virginia to advance to Sunday's championship match. Junior Justin Guest's blast with less than 15 minutes to play found the back of the net.
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 Friday, Georgia State is tied for the fifth-most road wins (6) of any team in the country. Washington, New Hampshire, and LMU (CA) leads the way with eight.
Georgia State's +14 goal differential is tied for the 37th-best mark in the NCAA.
The Panthers are averaging 2.00 goals per game which ranks 29th in the nation.
Senior Matthew Fearnley became the first CoSIDA Academic All-American in program history last spring, and was once again named CoSIDA Academic All-District on Thursday. He is also 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 (122), 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 NCAA Tournament which begins Thursday. With a loss, the Panthers would have to wait to see if they received an at large bid.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#15 Justin Guest: M; 5' 9"; Junior

#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

#15 Justin Guest
: 5' 9"; Junior
: 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