Friday, September 11, 2009

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 11, 2009) - The ETSU men's soccer team had plenty of chances down the stretch but could not get the equalizer as the Bucs fell to Radford Friday night at Cupp Stadium in Radford, Va., 1-0.

"Radford had the better of play in the first half as they were a physical and hard working team, while we were very tentative from the start," said head coach Scott Calabrese. "In the second half we started to assert ourselves, and we were able to get a hold of the ball right from the beginning of the half. We played a majority of the second half on the Radford end of the field putting their back four under a lot of pressure. We created a number of good chances throughout the second half, but ultimately we were unlucky not to level the score."

The Bucs (1-1-1) outshot the Highlanders (2-1-0) 8-7 in the match as both teams drew four corners apiece. Senior Scott Rosman (Kenner, La.) had one save in goal for ETSU as he was tabbed with his first loss of the season.

Radford got on the board in the 21^st minute as James Jordan caught the Bucs out of position and found a wide open Justin Zimmer who knocked in a shot from 12-yards out to give the Highlanders a 1-0 advantage.

ETSU gained the momentum towards the end of the first half, but the score remained 1-0 Highlanders at the break.

In the second half, the Bucs had several goal scoring chances but couldn't convert them to get the equalizing goal.

"In my opinion the second half was the best 45 minutes of play from this team this season," Calabrese said. "If we can put together a full 90 minutes at that level every time we compete, we will be a very difficult team to play against. Now we must look forward to an ACC opponent in Virginia Tech on Sunday."

ETSU is back in action Sunday as the Bucs head to Blacksburg, Va. to take on Virginia Tech in the Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational. For more information on Buccaneer men's soccer or any other athletic news, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.