Atlanta (October 17, 2009) Freshman Juan Giraldo and senior Brett Cummins scored goals and freshman goalkeeper Vincent Foermer earned the shutout as the Georgia State men's soccer team earned its biggest victory of the season with a 2-0 win over James Madison, the No. 5 team in the South Atlantic Region, Saturday at Atlanta Silverbacks Park.
Georgia State (4-5-1, 2-4 CAA) earned its second straight win on the turf field at Atlanta Silverbacks Park. In a very cold and windy afternoon the Panthers played solid defensively against James Madison (7-3-2, 2-2-1). After a scoreless first half Georgia State began attacking towards the goal.
After 70 minutes of scoreless play between two solid teams the Panthers stuck through in the 71st minute when freshman Yasser Majluf passed the ball to teammate freshman Juan Giraldo who blasted a shot that hit the top cross bar and dropped into the net to give Georgia State the 1-0 lead. Giraldo who has continued to play very well the last couple of weeks scored his second goal of the season proving to be the game winner against James Madison.
Georgia State continued to push the pressure against the Dukes catching a break when a James Madison defender committed a foul inside the box resulting in a penalty kick for the Panthers. Senior Brett Cummins took the kick and blasted it into the right corner of the net to push the score to 2-0 Georgia State.
The Panthers defensive was up to the challenge earning a shutout for the team heading into a couple of key matchups next weekend in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Freshman goal keeper Vincent Foermer continues to perform at the highest level stopping six shots to earn his second shutout of the season. Foermer finished the week with 14 saves, after stopping eight against Old Dominion and six versus James Madison on Saturday.
"I was very pleased with the way our guys fought in this match, Juan (Giraldo) scored a big goal for us and Vincent (Foermer) came up with some great saves to keep the shut out. We played an all around great game showing we can compete in this conference and hope to continue our solid play next week on the road, said Head Coach Kerem Daser.
"This is one of the biggest wins for our program and credit to the players on how they responded with the seniors really stepping up along with the freshmen class. We look forward to continuing this momentum into next weeks matches."
Georgia State heads back on the road for a two-game road trip in the CAA with the match against VCU on Wednesday Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. The Panthers end its two game road trip by facing the defending CAA tournament champion George Mason on Saturday Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
