STATESBORO, Ga. -- Tristan Jenkins scored twice and Owen Ruddy added two assists as the Old Dominion men's soccer team scored a 4-2 win over Georgia Southern in its first Sun Belt Conference contest on Saturday night.
"We were very efficient in front of the goal to build an early 4-0 lead in the second half. We did not manage the game well at that point and Georgia Southern showed great determination and effort to get back into the game," said ODU Head Coach Alan Dawson.
"I am delighted with our first Sun Belt win and hope that we can learn from the second half and build on the victory for our upcoming schedule," he added.
The Monarchs put three goals on the board in the first half as Louis Beckett started the scoring in the 13th minute blistering the bottom right corner of the net off a rebound to put the guests up 1-0.
Old Dominion kept the pressure on scoring in the 25th minute as Ruddy found Jonas Schmalbach for a tally to push the lead to 2-0. ODU took the advantage to 3-0 as Eli Carr connected with Jenkins for his first tally of the night in the 39th minute for a lead they took into halftime.
ODU (3-2-1, 1-0-0) found the back of the net again in the first minute of the second half as Ruddy and Jenkins connected for a shot into the lower right corner of the net for a 4-0 lead.
Georgia Southern (1-5, 0-1) put a pair of goals in the last 37 minutes as Manuel Prieto scored off a feed from Ervinas Vilkatis in the 63rd minute and then again in the 83rd minute from a feed by Hilary Odhiambo.
ODU heads up Interstate 64 on Tuesday night to tangle with VCU in Richmond at 7 p.m.
Men's Soccer Tops Georgia Southern 4-2 For Sun Belt Win
