Saturday, November 07, 2009

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 7, 2009) - Two first half goals were the difference as the No.3 seeded ETSU men's soccer team went on to defeat No.6 Lipscomb 3-0 in the first round of the Atlantic Sun tournament on Saturday afternoon at Summers-Taylor Stadium.

With the win the Bucs move on to the conference semifinals on Thursday in Buies Creek, N.C. as they will take on No.2 Stetson.

"This is a great win and a milestone for the ETSU men's soccer program," said head coach Scott Calabrese. "I am very pleased with the result today. Lipscomb did a much better job in this game making things very difficult for us. I am proud that our guys were able to find a way to win today and to overcome the adjustments that Lipscomb made."

The Bucs (6-8-3, 4-4-1 A-Sun) outshot the Bisons (6-10-3, 3-4-1 A-Sun) 10-7 in the match with five shots on goal to only three for Lipscomb. The Bisons had a 7-1 advantage in corners in the match.

"To go to the conference semifinal in only our second year gives our players a great deal of experience," Calabrese said. "In the end I am proud of our guys. We are a team determined to keep playing, and now we have to start preparing for Stetson on Thursday."

Senior Scott Rosman (Kenner, La.) came up big for ETSU making three saves en route to his sixth shutout of the season. The win was his sixth of the year and ties and ETSU record of six from last season.

The Bucs got a lucky break in the 19^th minute as Josh Lind of Lipscomb sent a ball back for the Bisons keeper Brent McGee that had a little too much pace on it and went into the net giving ETSU a 1-0 lead.

ETSU added a second goal in the 27^th minute as Aaron Schoenfeld (Knoxville, Tenn.) headed the cross from freshman Theo Yang (Lilburn, Ga.) into the back of the net to extend the Buccaneer lead to 2-0.

The Bucs outshot the Bisons 6-1 in the first half as they took a 2-0 lead into the break.

Lipscomb had a couple good chances early  in the second half as Miguel DaSilva got the ball wide open in front of the net but missed high in the 59^th minute. Garret Pettis also missed an open look in the 64^th minute as he sent the ball just wide of the net on a one-timer.

Junior Andrew Brown (Montego Bay, Jamaica) put the game out of reach in the 74^th minute as Kyle Franklin (Maryville, Tenn.) hooked up with Brown for a breakaway goal. Brown made a great touch slotting the ball just under a charging McGee to put the Buccaneers up 3-0.

For more information on Buccaneer men's soccer and all other Buccaneer athletic news, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.