Men's Soccer Hosts UNC Asheville Tuesday on ESPN+

ATLANTA – Coming off a pair of impressive road wins, the Georgia State men's soccer team will return home on Tuesday night to host UNC Asheville live on ESPN+ at 7 p.m., at the new GSU Soccer Complex.

Georgia State (2-1) topped in-state foe Mercer and USC Upstate to garner back-to-back road wins and will now look to win at home in one of just two contests in Atlanta during the month of September.

UNC Asheville (1-2) opened the season with a win over Northern Kentucky but has dropped matches to NC State and Belmont since. The Panthers will make their way to Nashville to face the Bruins this Friday night.

Through three matches, four different Panthers have scored a goal, including freshmen Ethan Sassine and Jordan Beam. Senior captain George Proctor scored the game winning goal against Mercer, while senior Matthew Fearnley, who shared the team lead with five goals last season, scored the game winner against USC Upstate.

MATCH NOTES
? Georgia State will return home for the first time since the regular season opener hosting UNC Asheville live on ESPN+.
? The Panthers lead the all-time series with the Bulldogs 10-5-1, including a 5-4 record in Atlanta.
? The last time the two schools met in 2019, it resulted in a 2-2 double-overtime tie.
? Georgia State is 4-0-1 against UNCA under head coach Brett Surrency dating back to 2010.

NEW HOMES
? Georgia State has a pair of new homes this season. The Panthers opened the new GSU Soccer Complex at 188 MLK Jr. Drive SE earlier this summer. The location previously housed the Georgia State 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 will face off in the final match of the regular season.

QUICK HITS
? After dropping the season opener to UNF, the Panthers have responded with back-to-back road wins at Mercer and USC Upstate.
? Georgia State has allowed four goals in the first three matches of the season, however, three of those have come via penalty kicks, including two against UNF.
? In the win over Mercer, Proctor scored on a penalty kick in the 75th minute. The reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year scored a goal in the third-straight regular season he played. The senior missed the regular season opener after picking up a red card in the conference tournament championship game last season.
? 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. Fearnley shared the team lead with five goals scored. He scored his first goal of the 2021 season in the 2-1 win at USC Upstate.
? Despite 17 upperclassmen on the team this year, freshmen have already been making an impact. Jordan Beam scored his first collegiate goal against UNF, while Ethan Sassine found the back of the net for the first time in the win over USC Upstate.

THE LATEST
? Georgia State finished exhibition play with a 1-0-2 record with a 2-1 win at Presbyterian College, along with 0-0 draws against No. 6 Clemson and Clayton State.
? In the win against the Blue Hose, it was a pair of newcomers getting the goals. Graduate transfer Iolo Jones got the Panthers on the board in the first half and it was freshman Ethan Sassine who proved to have the game winning goal in the second half.

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
1. West Virginia - 40 (3)
2. Akron - 39 (1)
3. Bowling Green - 38 (2)
4. Western Michigan - 30 (1)
5. NIU - 22
6. Georgia State - 17
7. Georgia Southern - 10
(*) 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 for 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 (112), behind only Scottie O'Neill (143), who coached the team from 1976-86.

WHAT'S NEXT
? Georgia State will begin a stretch of three-straight matches on the road when traveling to Nashville, Tenn., on Friday night to face Belmont at 7:30 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#28 Jordan Beam: MF; 5' 7"; Freshman

#3 Iolo Jones: MF; 5' 11"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#28 Jordan Beam
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: MF

#3 Iolo Jones
: 5' 11"; Graduate Student
: MF