Gonzaga Men's Soccer Defeats Georgia Southern 3-0

Gonzaga men’s soccer opened the Gonzaga/Nike Soccer Classic with a 3-0 victory over Georgia Southern on Friday. The Bulldogs improved to 2-1-2 on the season, while the Eagles of the Colonial Athletic Association fell to 0-4-0.

Georgia Southern sprinted out of the gates early, trying to establish offense by running along the wings. Their best early opportunity came in the fourth minute, when freshman Matt Starks headed a cross left-to-right across the face of goal and was denied by the crossbar. The woodwork was at it again in the 50th minute, when junior David Leonard hit the left post.

The game took a dramatic turn in the ninth minute, when Georgia Southern senior keeper Joey Ralph suffered a lower right leg injury. Ralph was sidelined for the rest of the match, and replaced by sophomore Mike Gubosh.

Gubosh started off strong, stopping all three shots on goal in his first 32 minutes of action. In the 41st minute, Gonzaga senior Ben Funkhouser cracked the back-up keeper on a free kick from 35 yards out. Funkhouser crossed what appeared to be a routine keeper’s ball into the box, but Gubosh let the ball slip through his hands and into the net.

In the opposite net, senior keeper Scott Barnum stopped nine shots to record his first clean sheet of the season. His most memorable save came with two seconds remaining in the first half. Georgia Southern freshman Cameron Troutman controlled a long throw dead center in the box, and blasted a high-velocity shot that Barnum corralled as time expired.

Gonzaga scored two goals in the second half, senior Nick Barclay’s second of the season, and senior Tye Perdido’s first, both from inside the box. The Bulldogs will look to continue their strong play on Sunday, Sep. 13, against the 1-2-0 Detroit Mercy Titans.