Clinton, S.C.—Neither a slow start or the Presbyterian College Blue Hose were going to deny the Georgia State men’s soccer team from a convincing 3-0 victory on Monday night in Clinton, S.C.

In a match that was delayed 30 minutes due to weather, the Panthers (2-1-0) again battled through an evenly-fought first half only to tack on goals late to secure the victory. Junior Peter Vania headed in the match’s first goal in the 81^st minute on a free kick taken by midfielder Eric Lawrence. The goal proved to be the game winner and the defender’s second such goal of his career.

“The goal was much needed, Eric played an unbelievable ball and Pete went up and got his head on it,” GSU head coach Brett Surrency said. “We started off slow, but we fed off of Pete’s goal and the game picked up after that.”

Vania’s header sparked a scoring onslaught for the Panthers in the final 10 minutes as junior midfielder Yasser Majluf and sophomore forward Evan Scott each banged home unassisted goals in the waning minutes for their firsts of the season. Majluf revenged a shot in the 27^th minute that rang the crossbar by deking past his defender and wiring a ball into the right side of the net.

Scott opened his 2011 account after he scampered by a Presbyterian (0-3-0) defender and also deposited a shot into the right side of the net. The goal beat the final buzzer by 15 seconds and ensured GSU a return to the win column.

“We really came alive in the second half after a bit of a slow start,” Surrency said, “We had a lot of energy and passion in the second half. Presbyterian had to start pushing numbers up after the first goal and Yasser picked a great moment to push forward and Evan made a great play to beat his defender.”

Junior goalkeeper Vincent Foermer made four saves to earn his second shutout victory of the season. It was the Seevetal, Germany native’s eighth career shutout as he leap-frogged former GSU goalkeeper J.B. Wood ’03 to move into fifth place on GSU’s career shutout list.

The Panthers held slight advantages in shots and corner kicks by a 15-13 and a 7-6 margin respectively. The game was also a physical affair with the teams combining for 33 fouls in the match.

GSU returns to Panthersville for its long-awaited home opener this Friday against Mercer.

“Mercer is an in-state rival and they play very, very hard,” Surrency said, “It’ll be a great game and we’re excited to get back home for the first time all year.”

The start time for the annual matchup of inter-state rivals is set for 7:00 p.m. Check www.GeorgiaStateSports.com throughout the week for a preview of Friday’s rivalry match and a link to live stats.

www.GeorgiaStateSports.com