It wasn’t easy, but the Georgia State men’s soccer team managed to pull off an overtime victory over the Mercer Bears, winning 2-1. The victory helped the Panthers stay unbeaten on the season, in what continues to be a historic start.
After the Bears’ Dylan Gaither scored a goal off a free kick at the 39:04 mark in the first half, the Panthers scored two straight goals, one in the second half and the other in overtime, to win the match.
Both goals came from substitute players. The first came from Matthew Fearnley, on an assist by forward Frank Rosenwald with 2:57 left in the second half. The second came from Dylan Morris, on an assist by Fearnley with 2:47 left in overtime.
When asked how the team managed to keep their heads together and come back from the early deficit, Morris spoke on the team’s mentality.
“To be honest with you, it’s something that we work on all the time,” he said. It’s just keeping the mentality, keeping your head, every single time you step on the field, whether it be one minute or 45 minutes or 90 minutes to go. It’s all about just playing the game, keeping your head in all situations within the game and eventually it came.”
With a record of 6-0-3, the win helped the program make history. It is the first time the men’s soccer team has gone nine matches without a loss. The team takes on the Lipscomb Bisons in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 8, and they’ll begin conference play on Saturday Oct. 12, when they play arch-rival Georgia Southern.
“There’s a good spirit amongst the boys. They really work hard for each other. We have different guys that seem to step up in different games,” head coach Brett Surrency said.
