Live Stats vs. MTSU | Live Video vs. MTSU

Live Stats vs. Georgia Southern

JACKSONVILLE - The Jacksonville State soccer team will usher in the 2016-17 athletic year this weekend, traveling to Middle Tennessee on Friday and opening the home schedule on Sunday, hosting Georgia Southern.

Friday's match in Murfreesboro, Tennessee at MTSU's Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium is set for 7 p.m.  JSU's home opener on Sunday will get underway at 1 p.m. at the JSU Soccer Field.  Admission is free to all home matches.  The 2016 schedule poster will be available to fans on Sunday.

After reporting to campus on August 2 and battling through a rigorous preseason camp, the Gamecocks are anxious to face a different side.  Entering his fourth season in charge of the soccer program at Jax State, Neil Macdonald had to mold a balance of returning players and a bevy of new faces in to a cohesive group as the season gets started with two quality opponents. 

JSU begins 2016 looking to replace a big portion of the offense as its top-two scorers have graduated.  Kelsey Bright and Courtney Hurt combined for 10 goals last season.  Bright and Hurt exited the program as two of the prolific scorers in the program's history.  Rising sophomores Madison Carruthers and Claire Petersen will be counted on to fill the void left by the Bright and Hurt.  Petersen had a solid freshman campaign that resulted in being a member of the Ohio Valley Conference's 2015 All-Newcomer Team.  The Gamecocks midfield unit remains intact with seniors Nicola Dominikovich, Carsen Taylor and Mackenzie Bellows.

JSU returns a pair of its defenders in Justine Panchuk and Chelsi Bender.  Jax State will have depth and experience at goalkeeper as all three on the roster have three seasons under their belt, led by Caroline Robinson, who started all 19 matches last season.  Robinson ranked among the best in the OVC last season with103 saves on the season and averaged five stops per match, which listed her third in the league.  She ranked fourth in the OVC in total saves and sixth in saves percentage (.798) and finished with six shutouts on the season with five of them coming in OVC play.

The Gamecocks and Blue Raiders will be meeting for the 11^th time overall and for the second consecutive season.  MTSU edged JSU in last season's meeting, 1-0, after posting a goal in the 20^th minute of the contest and holding off a strong comeback by the Gamecocks in the final 45 minutes.  JSU will be looking for its first win against the Blue Raiders since a 2-1 win during the 2006 season. 

MTSU is coming off a 10-6-4 mark in 2015 and posted a 5-2-3 record in Conference USA.  MTSU, much like JSU in the Ohio Valley Conference, was picked to finish fifth in the league.
JSU and GSU will battle for just the third time on the pitch and the first renewal since the 2000 campaign with Jax State earning a 1-0 result in Jacksonville.  The two clubs played to a scoreless draw in 1999 in Statesboro, Georgia.

Following Sunday's home match, the Gamecocks will begin a three-match road trip, beginning with a pair of matches in Troy, Alabama next weekend against in-state rivals South Alabama and Troy.

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