Men's Soccer Continues Road Swing at Winthrop Saturday

ATLANTA – Looking to bounce back from a tough double-overtime loss, the Georgia State men's soccer team will continue a stretch of three-straight matches away from home traveling to Rock Hill, S.C., to face Winthrop on Saturday night live on ESPN+ at 5 p.m., at Eagle Field.

Georgia State (3-2) has won three-straight matches against Winthrop (2-2) under head coach Brett Surrency and own a 4-1 mark all-time in the series. The last time the two schools met the Panthers came away with a 4-0 win over the Eagles in Atlanta.

In Georgia State's first five matches, the Panthers have scored nine goals and allowed just six, though in an interesting note, three of those six goals have come via penalty kicks.

After Justin Guest's impressive performance against UNC Asheville where he scored a hat trick in just seven minutes, he now leads the team with three goals while seven different Panthers have scored for Georgia State this season.

Goalkeeper Gunther Rankenburg has pitched two shutouts in Georgia State's first five matches of the year. He has also accumulated 14 saves so far this season, just two off leading the MAC.

MATCH NOTES

Georgia State continues a stretch of three-straight games away from home traveling to Rock Hill, S.C. to face Winthrop live on ESPN+.
The Panthers lead the all-time series with the Eagles 4-1, including a 1-1 mark in Rock Hill.
The last time the two schools met, Georgia State earned a 4-0 win over Winthrop in Atlanta.
The last time the two schools in Rock Hill was 2018 as the Panthers came away with a 3-1 victory.
Head coach Brett Surrency is 3-0 all-time against the Eagles.

NEW HOMES

Georgia State has a pair of new homes this season. The Panthers opened the new GSU Soccer Complex at 188 MLK Jr. Drive SE earlier this summer. The location previously housed the Georgia State Football team for 10 years.
The Panthers second new home this year is the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Panthers along with in-state rival Georgia Southern joined the league earlier this summer. In fitting fashion, the two schools will face off in the final match of the regular season.

QUICK HITS

Georgia State saw its three-match winning streak snapped last Friday night as Belmont earned a 2-1 double overtime victory over the Panthers.
The Panthers are 2-1 on the road this season and have outscored their opponents in those matches 4-2.
In Georgia State's 4-0 win over UNC Asheville, the Panthers scored all four goals in just over a seven-minute stretch of the second half including three goals from junior Justin Guest. The junior currently ranks No. 46 in the country with three goals scored this season.
Georgia State has allowed six goals in the first five matches of the season, however, three of those have come via penalty kicks, including two against UNF.
In the win over Mercer, George Proctor scored on a penalty kick in the 75th minute. The reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year scored a goal in the third-straight regular season he played. The senior missed the regular season opener after picking up a red card in the conference tournament championship game last season.
Senior Matthew Fearnley became the first CoSIDA Academic All-American in program history last spring, while both he and fellow senior Logan Luque earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors. Fearnley shared the team lead with five goals scored. He scored his first goal of the 2021 season in the 2-1 win at USC Upstate. He is now a nominee for the Senior CLASS Award.
Despite 17 upperclassmen on the team this year, freshmen have already been making an impact. Jordan Beam scored his first collegiate goal against UNF, while Ethan Sassine found the back of the net for the first time in the win over USC Upstate.

EXHIBITION PLAY

Georgia State finished exhibition play with a 1-0-2 record with a 2-1 win at Presbyterian College, along with 0-0 draws against No. 6 Clemson (now No. 2) and Clayton State.
In the win against the Blue Hose, it was a pair of newcomers getting the goals. Graduate transfer Iolo Jones got the Panthers on the board in the first half, and it was freshman Ethan Sassine who proved to have the game winning goal in the second half.

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START, BUT HOW YOU FINISH

Georgia State enters the Mid-American Conference as one of the newbies along with Georgia Southern. Despite playing in six-straight conference tournament championship games and making an appearance in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the Panthers were selected sixth in the annual MAC Preseason Poll as selected by the coaches.

2021 MAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. West Virginia - 40 (3)
2. Akron - 39 (1)
3. Bowling Green - 38 (2)
4. Western Michigan - 30 (1)
5. NIU - 22
6. Georgia State - 17
7. Georgia Southern - 10
(*) First Place Votes
MAC Champion: WVU (3), BGSU (2), WMU (1) Akron (1)

REACHING TRIPLE DIGITS

GSU head coach Brett Surrency reached the 100-win plateau in the regular season finale of the 2019 season. He had led GSU to 11 or more wins in three consecutive seasons for last season where the Panthers played only 13 matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the only coach in GSU history to take the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament.
Surrency is currently the second-winningest head coach in GSU history (113), behind only Scottie O'Neill (143), who coached the team from 1976-86.

WHAT'S NEXT

Georgia State will conclude a stretch of three-straight matches on the road when traveling to Davidson on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. matchup.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Matthew Fearnley: M; 5' 11"; Senior

#15 Justin Guest: M; 5' 9"; Junior

#23 Logan Luque: M; 5' 10"; Senior

#16 George Proctor: D; 6' 1"; Senior

#1 Gunther Rankenburg: GK; 6' 3"; Junior

#19 Ethan Sassine: F; 5' 10"; Freshman

#28 Jordan Beam: MF; 5' 7"; Freshman

#3 Iolo Jones: MF; 5' 11"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

#10 Matthew Fearnley
: 5' 11"; Senior
: M

#15 Justin Guest
: 5' 9"; Junior
: M

#23 Logan Luque
: 5' 10"; Senior
: M

#16 George Proctor
: 6' 1"; Senior
: D

#1 Gunther Rankenburg
: 6' 3"; Junior
: GK

#19 Ethan Sassine
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: F

#28 Jordan Beam
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: MF

#3 Iolo Jones
: 5' 11"; Graduate Student
: MF