ATLANTA- The Georgia State men's soccer team used a late goal from sophomore midfielder Alejandro Reyes to give the Panthers a 2-1 exhibition victory against Lipscomb on Saturday night in Panthersville.
The Panthers finish out the exhibition season with a record of 1-1-1 in three games and will open the 2010 regular season against Gardner-Webb on Wednesday.
In the 81st minute, Lipscomb committed a foul just outside the box setting up a free kick for sophomore Yasser Majluf. Majluf fired a low shot that Bison keeper Brent McGee made the initial save but sophomore Alejandro Reyes stuck the rebound into the back of the net that proved to be the game winner.
"I told the guys we needed a spark in the second half and credit the players for stepping up with their resiliency," said head coach Brett Surrency. "Alejandro Reyes came off the bench and provided that spark we needed with his great play. "It was nice to see the heart of the team and their wiliness to never give up on a play."
Earlier in the second half, the Bison committed another foul near the Panthers bench, giving Georgia State a free kick. Majluf took the free kick and blasted a high shot over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper McGee to tie the score at 1-1 in the 53rd minute.
"Yasser Majluf played a full game and the players really fueled off his tying goal and gave us the lift we needed early in the second half," said Surrency.
In the first half of play Lipscomb took the early lead after a foul inside the box lead to a penalty kick. Bison senior defender Garrett McLaughlin took the penalty kick and scored on the left side of the net at the 18:47 mark of the first half.
Georgia State sophomore goalkeeper Vincent Foermer started the game and made five critical saves to keep the game at 1-0 in the first half of play.
"It was clearly a tale of two halves for us, Vincent Foermer played great for us tonight but we hope that we can work on playing a more complete game," said Surrency. "We want to dictate the pace more instead of coming from behind, but I love the heart our team showed tonight."
The Panthers played a great defensive second half holding Lipscomb to zero shots and freshman goalkeeper C.J. Cochran played the entire second half to earn the victory.
"We are trying to get healthy for the regular season as we have a lot of guys that are banged up but overall it was a good exhibition season and we will hopefully have more consistency starting Wednesday against Gardner-Webb," said Surrency.
The season opener in Boiling Springs is set for 4 p.m. Live stats and results will be available on the GeorgiaStateSports.com website.
-www.GeorgiaStateSports.com-
