Georgia Southern Eagles men's soccer

Georgia Southern Eagles
FoundedMay 7, 1980; 44 years ago (1980-05-07)
UniversityGeorgia Southern University
Head coachLee Squires (1st season)
ConferenceSun Belt
LocationStatesboro, Georgia
StadiumBo Pitts Field
(Capacity: 3,500)
NicknameEagles
ColorsBlue and white[1]
   
Home
Away
Conference Regular Season championships
1990, 2016

The Georgia Southern Eagles men's soccer program represents Georgia Southern University in all NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions. Founded in 1980, the Eagles currently compete in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC).[2] They played briefly as members of the Mid-American Conference. However, following a major conference realignment in 2021 brought several new men's soccer schools to the SBC including the Southeastern Conference and Big 12 Conference playing members, the league announced it would reinstate men's soccer no later than 2023.[3] The reinstatement of SBC men's soccer was ultimately pushed forward to 2022.[4]

The Eagles are coached by LEE SQUIRES. Georgia Southern plays their home matches at Eagle Field.

History

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Georgia Southern University's varsity men's soccer program was introduced by then-athletic director George A. Cook on May 7, 1980.[5] The same day, the soccer program's first head coach, Pat Cobb, was also introduced as the head coach. They began play in the league now known as the ASUN Conference.

Seasons

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Key
  •   – National Champions
  •   – Conference Champions
  •   – Division Champions
  •   – NCAA Tournament berth
Season Head coach Conference Season results Tournament results
Overall Conference Conference NCAA[6]
W L T W L T Finish
1980 Patt Cobb TAAC[7][8] 10 8 1 Runners-up
1981 8 10 1 Third place
1982 4 10 1 Semifinals
1983 Ray Wells 5 6 1 Quarterfinals
1984 6 7 0 Quarterfinals
1985 John Rafter 3 9 3 Quarterfinals
1986 12 5 0 Semifinals
1987 14 2 1 Semifinals
1988 10 7 1 Quarterfinals
1989 8 9 1 2 4 0 3rd of 4, East
1990‡ Tom Norton 15 5 0 5 1 0 1st of 4, East Runners-up
1991 4 11 4 1 5 2 6th of 7
1992 SoCon[9] 8 10 2 3 3 0 3rd of 7 Quarterfinals
1993 8 9 4 2 2 2 3rd of 7 Semifinals
1994 10 10 1 2 4 0 4th of 7 Semifinals
1995 7 13 2 2 4 0 5th of 7 Semifinals
1996 Kevin Chambers 10 11 2 3 2 1 3rd of 7 Runners-up
1997 14 4 2 4 3 0 4th of 8 Semifinals
1998 6 11 1 4 3 1 4th of 9 Quarterfinals
1999 5 12 1 3 5 0 6th of 9 Quarterfinals
2000 6 11 3 2 5 1 6th of 9 Quarterfinals
2001 8 12 0 3 5 0 7th of 9 Semifinals
2002 2 16 2 1 5 2 6th of 9 Quarterfinals
2003 6 11 2 2 4 1 6th of 8 Quarterfinals
2004 7 7 4 3 3 1 5th of 8 Quarterfinals
2005 7 10 1 1 6 0 7th of 8 Quarterfinals
2006 Kevin Kennedy 10 6 3 4 1 2 2nd of 8 Runners-up
2007 6 12 0 2 5 0 7th of 8 Quarterfinals
2008 8 8 1 4 3 0 4th of 8 Semifinals
2009 1 15 1 0 6 0 8th of 8
2010 3 11 3 0 6 1 8th of 8 Quarterfinals
2011 8 8 1 4 3 0 3rd of 8 Quarterfinals
2012 6 12 1 3 3 1 4th of 8 Semifinals
2013 9 10 0 2 4 0 5th of 7 Semifinals
2014 Sun Belt[10] 8 9 0 3 2 0 2nd of 6 Runners-up
2015 6 8 2 3 2 0 3rd of 6 Semifinals
2016* John Murphy 8 8 3 3 1 1 1st of 6* Semifinals
2017 9 8 1 3 2 0 3rd of 6 Semifinals
2018 7 7 3 2 1 1 2nd of 5 Runners-up
2019 7 9 2 2 3 0 5th of 6 Quarterfinals
2020 1 9 0 0 6 0 4th of 4 Semifinals
2021 MAC 4 12 1 0 5 1 7th of 7
2022 Sun Belt 1 14 1 0 8 0 9th of 9

Head coaches

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There have been seven men's soccer coaches in the program's history.[11]

No. Coach Seasons Years Games Record
1 Pat Cobb 3 1980–1982 52 22–28–3 (.443)
2 Ray Wells 2 1983–1984 25 11–13–1 (.460)
3 John Rafter 5 1985–1989 85 47–32–6 (.588)
4 Tom Norton 6 1990–1995 123 52–57–14 (.480)
5 Kevin Chambers 10 1996–2005 194 71–105–18 (.412)
6 Kevin Kennedy 10 2006–2015 176 65–99–12 (.403)
7 John Murphy 4 2016–2022 82 32–41–9 (.445)

Rivalries

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Mercer

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Mercer leads the series 25–24–0 through the 2018 season.[12]

Georgia State

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Georgia State leads the series 30–11–6 through the 2020–21 season.[13][12]

References

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  1. ^ Georgia Southern Visual Identity Guide (PDF). April 19, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  2. ^ "Georgia Southern, Georgia State Added As Affiliate Members in Men's Soccer" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  3. ^ Traylor, Grant (November 1, 2021). "Sun Belt confirms men's soccer being reinstated". The Herald-Dispatch. Huntington, WV. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  4. ^ "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  5. ^ "2017 Men's Soccer media Guide" (PDF). August 29, 2017.
  6. ^ "Men's Division I Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  7. ^ "ASUN Men's Soccer Championship Results". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  8. ^ "ASUN Men's Soccer Year-By-Year Standings". Atlantic Sun Conference. September 28, 2019.
  9. ^ "Southern Conference Men's Soccer Record Book - Through 2018 season" (PDF). Southern Conference. August 23, 2019. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  10. ^ "2019 Sun Belt Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). sunbeltsports.org. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  11. ^ "All-Time Coaching History - GA Southern Eagles Men's Soccer Media Guide" (PDF). gseagles.com. September 6, 2019. p. 60. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Georgia Southern Men's Soccer Media Guide" (PDF). gseagles.com. Georgia Southern University Athletics. August 24, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  13. ^ "Georgia State Men's Soccer History and Record Book" (PDF). Georgia State Panthers. January 25, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
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