Both of the Georgia Southern soccer teams, along with volleyball and women’s golf, were in action this weekend while students were still returning to campus after the week off spurred by the effects of Hurricane Irma.

Women’s soccer conquers Chanticleers

On the women’s side, the Eagles prevailed 1-0 on sophomore midfielder Nicole Aussin’s second goal of the young season.

Playing on the road, the Eagles kept pace with CCU in terms of shots on goal, with 8 for each team. Lauren Karinshak, the GS sophomore goalkeeper, was again the difference for the Eagles. Karinshak made eight saves and blanked the Chanticleers for her fourth shutout of the season.

GS head women’s coach Brian Dunleavy told gseagles.com that Karinshak “came up big when we needed her.”

Early excitement

The men’s team played at Eagle Field, and prevailed, 2-1, after a blazing start to the match.

In just the second minute, junior forward Javier Carbonell lined up a free kick that met first the head of freshman defender Gonzalo Talavera and then the back of the net. It was Talavera’s first career goal.

Carbonell also initiated the play that led to the second goal less than two minutes later for the Eagles. His through ball led freshman midfielder Aldair Cortes to open grass on the left side of the box, where Cortes, who has three shots in the game, banged it home for his first goal of the season.

 After the flurry of goals to start the game, the scoring mellowed until the 82nd minute when Coastal Carolina senior forward Frantzdy Pierrot scored to make the score 2-1, as it would finish.

“The way we started really put us in a good position for the rest of the game,” John Murphy, the GS head coach told gseagles.com.

Next Up

Both the men’s and women’s teams are sitting at .500 as the week begins, the men at 3-3 and the women at 3-3-1.

The men are  on the roadat Winthrop Tueday night at 7 p.m. The women will continue conference play at Texas State in San Marcos, Texas on Friday at 7 p.m.

Volleyball at Clemson

The volleyball team lost to three tough opponents in a row at the Clemson Classic, playing South Carolina, Clemson and Texas Tech. The scores against those schools were 0-3,1-3 and 0-3 respectively.

Senior outside hitter Cathrine Murray tallied 28 kills on the weekend and made the All-tournament Team. Junior middle Lauren Reichard had four blocks for the Eagles as they took a set against Clemson but were unable to win the match.

The Eagles will start conference play this weekend in Hanner Fieldhouse, beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. against Louisiana. Saturday at 6:30, Louisiana-Monroe will come to Statesboro to take on the Eagles.

Women’s golf in the other Manhattan

The Kansas State Marilynn Smith Invitational is the first event on the Eagles’ schedule, and it began Sunday in Manhattan, Kansas.

GS junior Ansley Bowman was tied for fifth entering Monday’s second round of three, shooting a 1-over-par 73 in round one.

Going into the second round, the Eagles were in eighth place of nine teams amongst a field of Power-5 contenders.

The George-Anne will have an update of the results of the tournament online Wednesday.

The women’s golf team will also compete in the Lady Paladin Intercollegiate at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. starting Friday, Sept. 22.

Men’s Tennis

The Eagles competed in their first tournament of the fall, playing at the Coastal Carolina Invitational. They took the tournament crown after losing only one doubles match in the entire event, and taking 15 out of 24 singles matchups.

Sophomore Murphy McCollough was undefeated on the weekend. The other teams in contention in Conway, S.C. were Presbyterian College, Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State.

The next event for the Blue and White will be the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All American Tournament, which starts Friday, Sept. 29 and runs all the way through Thursday, Oct. 5.