Panthers Spoil Ospreys’ Home Opener

Friday, September 18

Jacksonville, Fla.

5 p.m.

University of North Florida

Georgia State

Adam O'Neill (pictured) and Steven Lowenthal each had three shots apiece against Georgia State.

9/18/2009 10:04:42 PM | Men's Soccer

UNF men’s soccer dropped a 2-0 decision to Georgia State in its home opener.

By: UNF Athletics

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida men's soccer team fell 2-0 to Georgia State in its home opener at Hodges Stadium on Friday night. Despite controlling the tempo for the majority of the match, UNF was hurt by a pair of miscues that led to Panther goals.

In the first half, the Ospreys dominated Georgia State, outshooting the visitors 7-to-4. Both teams took a pair of shots on goal, but Georgia State scored a goal with five seconds remaining in the half to take a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

The Panthers' Peter Vania collected a ball from Joe Castaldo that was initially cleared by the Ospreys and put a good shot on the ball for the first goal.

“In the first half, we certainly controlled the match,” head coach Ray Bunch remarked after the match. “We played well, we controlled the tempo of the match and then we made a mistake and we got punished for it. The first goal, the guy made a strike that we initially cleared, but we switched off and the guy made a great shot.”

Georgia State collected its second goal of the match early in the second half. Three minutes into the second half GSU's Caleb Kernan took a cross from Brett Cummins in front of the goal from about 12 feet out for the goal.

“In the second half, I thought we were getting back into it and then a dreadful mistake had us down 2-0,” added Bunch. “It's very frustrating and disappointing today.”

Despite the loss, North Florida outshot Georgia State 13-to-8 on the night. Both teams recorded four shots on goal. The match was a physical contest with the two teams combining for 41 fouls (UNF 17, GSU 24). The Ospreys took four corner kicks on the night compared to just four by the Panthers.

Leading the way for the Ospreys were senior midfielder Steven Lowenthal and junior forward Adam O'Neill. The duo each had three shots on the night with O'Neill registering a shot on goal.

Seven other UNF players recorded shots on the night with Jordan Allerding, Calvin Lowe and Shareef Rajkumar each attempting shots on goal.

Sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Calise took the hard-luck loss for the Ospreys. Calise collected a pair of saves in 90-minutes of action and was aided by stellar defense by UNF to limit the Panthers to just four shots on goal.

North Florida will head to Wisconsin for a match on Monday, Sept. 21, as the Ospreys take on Green Bay in a match slated for 7 p.m. EST.