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STATESBORO, Ga. – The HBU men's soccer team lost a 1-0 decision on the road to Georgia Southern at Eagle Field – ERK Park early Friday afternoon in a matchup that was played earlier than originally planned with Hurricane Irma bearing down on the southeastern United States.
Making his first collegiate start, HBU (1-2) redshirt-freshman
Jorge Cabrera was immediately tested as Blake Wilson put a shot on goal just 38 seconds into the match for Georgia Southern (2-3). During the 15
th minute, GSU's Gonzalo Talavera put a header on goal that was stopped by Cabrera and the Huskies countered and
Josue Palomino put HBU's first attempt on goal but it was stopped by the Eagles' Robert Flott to maintain the 0-0 stalemate. The match remained scoreless at the half with Cabrera stopping five shots.
The Eagles kept Cabrera busy, putting three shots on goal within the first 10 minutes of the second half and finding the net on the third. Wilson took a Javier Carbonell through ball into the box, dribbled past Cabrera and put GSU ahead 1-0 in the 55
th minute. The Huskies were able to respond with some looks at the goal but managed just one more shot on target, a
Dominick Faletto attempt at the 84:18 mark.
Shots in the match were 17-12 in Georgia Southern's favor but the larger differential came in shots on goal, with GSU putting 10 on target to the Huskies' two. Cabrera made nine saves in his debut while Flott stopped a pair for the Eagles. Palomino led HBU with four shot attempts while Faletto and freshman
Gianluca Natera both took two shots.
The Huskies will travel north to Boiling Springs, N.C. for their next match, a 12:00 p.m. cst affair at Gardner-Webb. The match was originally scheduled to be a part of the Coastal Empire Challenge and held in Statesboro, Ga. but the tournament was cancelled due to the expected inclement weather associated with Hurricane Irma.