<div style="font-size: 11px;"> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><strong>ATLANTA</strong>--A return trip to Durham, N.C., the site of the Georgia State men's soccer team's first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, highlights a challenging 2012 fall schedule announced on Monday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Panthers battle Duke, which finished last season ranked No. 29 in the final RPI standings, on Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. Later in the month, Georgia State takes on another national power from the ACC when it travels to College Park, Md., for a Sept. 24 showdown against Maryland. The Terrapins posted a 14-4-3 record, earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and finished the year ranked No. 9 in the final NSCAA Coaches Poll.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Panthers kick-off their 2012 fall slate with two matches in Jacksonville, Fla. Georgia State faces Jacksonville, the alma mater of third-year head coach <a class="biolink" href="http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&amp;ATCLID=620841&amp;DB_OEM_ID=12700">Brett Surrency</a>, to open its season on Friday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. GSU caps the weekend with a match at North Florida at 3 p.m. on Aug. 26.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">GSU opens its home schedule against Evansville University of the Missouri Valley Conference on Saturday, Sept. 1 at Panthersville. Admission to all Georgia State soccer matches is free for all fans.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Following the Duke match, GSU battles two local rivals in Georgia Southern at Panthersville (Sept. 14, 4 p.m.) and Mercer in Macon, Ga. (Sept. 16, 7 p.m.). Georgia State begins CAA play on Sept. 22 with a match at Towson (Noon). The first home CAA contest of the 2012 season takes place on Sept. 29 when the Panthers host last year's CAA champions Delaware for a 7 p.m. match.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">"We definitely have a difficult fall schedule, but we also have an experienced group of players," Surrency said, "We look forward to each of the challenges this schedule presents."</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">In total, GSU takes on five NCAA Tournament teams from last season. Including Duke, Maryland and Delaware, Georgia State hosts Old Dominion on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. and travels to Harrisonburg, Va. to play last year's No. 14 seed in James Madison (Oct. 27, 7 p.m.).</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The Georgia State men's soccer team returns to the field for preseason training in early August. The team is coming off a historic season in which it set many program benchmarks, including its highest RPI ranking finish in school history at No. 36. Five newcomers join a squad that returns nine starters from the team that took the field at Duke in last year's NCAA Tournament first round matchup. Visit the men's soccer home page on </span><a href="http://www.georgiastatesports.com/?&amp;SPSID=53496&amp;SPID=5649&amp;DB_OEM_ID=12700"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">www.GeorgiaStateSports.com</span></a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> for all the latest news as the team prepares for the 2012 campaign</span></span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.georgiastatesports.com/?DB_OEM_ID=12700"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">www.GeorgiaStateSports.com</span></a></span></p> </div>