Men's Soccer | 8/30/2018 11:38:00 AM

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida men's soccer team will play a pair of road matches this weekend for the first time this season. The Ospreys travel to Statesboro, Ga. to take on Georgia Southern at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31 before battling No. 23 Tulsa on Sunday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla.

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Date: Friday, Aug. 31 | Sunday, Sept. 2
Time: 7:30 p.m. | 8 p.m.
Location: Statesboro, Ga. | Tulsa, Okla.
Opponents: Georgia Southern | No. 23 Tulsa
Coverage: Live Stream  Live Stats | Live Stream  Live Stats
 
Quick Kicks

• North Florida enters the weekend 0-2-0 after dropping a pair of home matches last weekend.
• Sunday's match against No. 23 Tulsa will be the first ranked opponent the Ospreys have faced since upsetting No. 11 FGCU in a 3-2 win on the road on Oct. 18, 2016.
• Mikey Connell scored the lone goal for the Ospreys and is tied for fifth in the ASUN in goals tied for ninth in points (2).
• Collin Scott is tied for fourth in the ASUN with five shots while Padraic Gilley is also tied for fourth with five saves.

Thoughts From the Top
"Georgia Southern is a quality opponent that has been on the rise for a couple of years now, and Tulsa is a very strong program that's rich in history," said head coach Derek Marinatos. "We look forward to taking our young group on the road to compete for some positive results this weekend."

Scouting Georgia Southern
The Eagles come into Friday's match with a 1-0-1 record after defeating Virginia Commonwealth (2-1) and tying Old Dominion (2-2) in a pair of road matches on opening weekend. Javier Carbonell and Adam Davie lead the Eagle offense with two goals apiece on the season while Carbonell and Samuel Mayer have notched a team-high one assist.

Goalkeeper Jokull Blaengsson is 1-0-1 on the season with seven saves, 0.90 goals-against average and .778 save percentage while in the goal for the Eagles.

Head coach John Murphy is in his third season leading the Eagles with a record of 18-16-5 and is 66-56-18 in his eighth overall season of coaching.

Series History
Friday's match will be the 12^th all-time meeting between the two programs with the series record tied at 5-5-1. Georgia Southern won the last meeting in a narrow 2-1 decision over UNF on Sept. 1, 2017 at Hodges Stadium.

Scouting No. 23 Tulsa
The Hurricane enter the weekend with a 1-0-1 record and No. 23 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches poll after topping No. 15 Michigan (2-1) and tying No. 4 Michigan State (0-0) in the opening weekend. Juan Sanchez and Joe Ruiz have scored one goal apiece while Chase Bromstedt and Gustavo Vargas have handed out one assist each.

Goalkeeper Cooper Clark is 1-0-1 on the season with 11 saves, a 0.45 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.

Head coach Tom McIntosh is in his 24^th season at the helm of the Tulsa program and holds a career record of 245-164-49.

Series History
Sunday's match will be the first all-time meeting between Tulsa and the Ospreys.

Up Next
The Ospreys return to the pitch next weekend as they venture west to the state of Colorado for a pair of matches. UNF will play at Air Force on Friday, Sept. 7 before facing No. 19 Denver on Sunday, Sept. 9.