GSU shut out by rival Wofford

Emily Arnold

The Georgia Southern University men’s soccer team suffered a devastating loss to the Wofford College Terriers in a 3-0 shut out Saturday night.

This is was the first time the Eagles have lost by more than one goal this season and it was also their first shut out.

“I don’t think we ever got into a rhythm in the first half,” head coach Kevin Kennedy said. “We were on this path, making improvements every week, and tonight’s game was just a detour from that.”

The Eagles now have a 0-2-0 record in the Southern Conference while Wofford is leading the SoCon with a 2-0-0 record.

Wofford freshman f orward Matthew Aurednik was the top scorer for the Terriers, sealing the first two out of three goals, with the first coming just 12 minutes into the game.

Aurednik’s second goal was from a penalty kick caused by an Eagle handball inside the box.

Wofford junior d efender Forrest Lasso secured the last goal by heading it into the net off a long throw-in sent by senior defender Billy Padula.

With 10 attempted shots, the Eagles tried to keep up with the Terriers, who had 17 overall shots during the game. The shots on goal were closer in number with five for GSU and seven for Wofford.

Senior forward Witt Carlisle was the top shooter for GSU with four shots, three on frame, but he could not get it past the goalkeeper and in the net.

Even with double the amount of corner kicks, the Eagles’ offense could not get the ball past Wofford’s goalkeeper.  The second half had its share of fouls as four of GSU’s players were shown yellow cards, three in just the last 15 minutes of the match.

“We were uncharacteristically poor tonight and Wofford was very good,” Kennedy s aid. “For the next game, we just have to have a tougher mentality. When things don’t go our way, we’ve just got to be willing to put in the extra work, continue to be patient and stick to our game plan.”

GSU suits up for its final match of a four-game home stretch against the Georgia State University Panthers F. riday afternoon. The Eagles will go head-to-head with their rivals starting at 5 p.m. on Eagle Field.