Men’s soccer starts season with winning weekend

Chuck Paggett

The Eagles wrapped up opening weekend with another victory in the Aaron Olitsky tournament Sunday, Sep. 1.

The 2-0 win over College of Charleston mirrors the 2-0 record GS leaves the state of South Carolina with after an opening day win against UNC-Wilmington. 

“Overall, it was a great weekend,” GS head coach John Murphy said in a press release. “Obviously, we play to win, but at this point of the season, you’re looking for strong performances.”

Murphy characterized the second win as an even better performance than the first, highlighting the depth of quality this year’s team has.

Junior midfielder Alhaji Tambadu scored the first two goals of his career in the season opener against UNCW and added another on Sunday, finishing with three goals over the weekend while claiming MVP honors in the Aaron Olitsky Memorial Tournament.

Tambadu was not alone, as sophomore Joshua Deane notched his first career collegiate goal as well against UNCW.

Sophomore forward Adam Davie scored two goals and junior midfielder Aldair Cortes is tied for the conference lead in assists with two.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jokull Blaengsson recorded a shutout in the second game, after recording 6 saves against UNCW, and finished with eight saves over the weekend, good for second in the Sun Belt.

“I think when you play well in the second game, that shows that – with two games in three days – you have depth, and shows that you have quality,” Murphy said in a press release.

The Eagles have 12 players with 100 minutes or more of field time, and seniors Justin Little and Gonzalo Talavera have seen every minute of game play in the first two games.

“What I liked in the end today was that everyone was engaged about trying to get the clean sheet, which is important for us here,” Murphy said. “Clean sheets are indicative of a good team, and the guys digging in at the end was a very positive sign.”

The team hopes to continue the trend heading into the opening home weekend where they will host Merrimack on Friday at 7 p.m.

Charles Paggett, The George-Anne Sports Reporter, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu