Men's Soccer Returns Home, Hosts Wofford Saturday Night

ATLANTA – Following a pair of impressive road wins, the Georgia State men's soccer team will return home to host Wofford on Saturday night at 7 p.m., at the new GSU Soccer Complex.

Georgia State (5-2) will be hosting just its third home match of the season as Wofford (3-3) visits Atlanta for the first time since 2013.

In Georgia State's first seven matches, the Panthers have scored 15 goals and allowed just eight, a plus-7 goal differential that is tied for the 30^th-best in the country. Of interesting note, four of those eight goals allowed have come via penalty kicks.

The Panthers are ranked No. 23 in the country with 15 goals scored, averaging 2.14 goals per game which ranks No. 28 in the country.

Goalkeeper Gunther Rankenburg has pitched three shutouts in Georgia State's first seven matches of the year which ranks No. 23 in the country. He has also accumulated 17 saves so far this season, just three off leading the MAC.

MATCH NOTES

Georgia State returns home following three-straight road games to host Wofford at the new GSU Soccer Complex. It will mark just the third home game of the year for the Panthers.
The Panthers lead the all-time series with the Terriers 6-2-1, including a 3-1-1 mark in Atlanta.
The last time the two schools met, Georgia State earned a 2-1 overtime win over Wofford on Oct. 8, 2013.
Head coach Brett Surrency is 1-0 all-time against Wofford.

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

As of Friday, Georgia State shared the nation lead with four road wins already this season. The list of eight teams includes New Hampshire, LMU (CA), Northeastern, Vermont, Georgia State, Cal Baptist, Lipscomb, and Binghamton.
The Panthers are 4-1 on the road this season and have outscored their opponents in those matches 10-5.
The Panthers just finished a swing of three-straight matches away from home going 2-1 while outscoring their opponents 7-3. The only loss came in double overtime.
Georgia State has allowed eight goals in the first seven matches of the season, however, four of those have come via penalty kicks, including two against UNF.
Georgia State's +7 goal differential is tied for the 30th-best mark in the NCAA.
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 and Bryan Silva have both scored their first collegiate goals this year, while Ethan Sassine has found the back of the net three times, tied for the team lead with Justin Guest.

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 (114), behind only Scottie O'Neill (143), who coached the team from 1976-86.

WHAT'S NEXT
? Georgia State will begin another stretch of three-straight matches away from home on Tuesday night traveling to Birmingham, Ala., to face UAB at 8 p.m. ET.

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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

#14 Bryan Silva: MF; 5' 8"; Freshman

#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

#14 Bryan Silva
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: MF

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

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

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