JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 1, 2024) – The ETSU men's soccer team looks to capture the Southern Conference regular season title outright and lock up the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament when the Buccaneers head to North Carolina to take on UNCG on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
 
GAMEDAY INFO
ETSU (5-5-4, 3-0-1) at UNCG (9-2-4, 2-1-1)
Saturday, Nov. 2 • 6 p.m. • UNCG Soccer Stadium • ESPN+ • Live Stats
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU enters the regular season finale at 5-5-4 overall and 3-0-1 in SoCon play
• The Bucs are unbeaten in their last five matches, going 4-0-1 during this run 
• ETSU is outscoring its opponents 9-2 during this unbeaten streak
• With a win or tie Saturday at Greensboro, the Bucs will capture their second straight regular season SoCon title
• Marc Kouadio has registered three shutouts over the last five matches
• Kouadio ranks sixth nationally in saves per game (51.4), eighth in total saves (72), and 15th in save percentage (0.809)
• As a team, ETSU ranks ninth nationally in saves per game (5.21) and 24th in save percentage (.785)
• During this five-game unbeaten streak, Gabriel Ramos has scored three goals and dished out three assists, while Louie Salkeld has one goal and four assists
• Kouadio has recorded 26 saves in his last five outings … Kouadio, who surpassed 200 career saves last Saturday, needs two saves to notch 100 for his ETSU career
• The Bucs are 7-0-2 in their last nine SoCon games … ETSU's last conference setback came on Oct. 29, 2022 when the Bucs fell 3-2 at Mercer
• In 68 career matches (61 starts), Ramos has totaled 16 goals, 17 assists and 49 points
• The 15 goals rank seventh all-time in program history, while his 49 points also rank seventh-most by a Buccaneer
• The Bucs are led by first-year head coach Allen Vital … Vital comes to Johnson City with 27 years of head coaching experience as he spent 14 years at Carson-Newman and spent the last 13 seasons at his alma mater, Tusculum
• ETSU won the Southern Conference regular season title a year ago after finishing the 2023 campaign with an overall record of 9-5-3 and league mark of 4-0-1
• The Bucs return nine players who logged minutes on the pitch last season, including preseason all-SoCon selection Gabriel Ramos
• Ramos, a preseason all-SoCon selection, started all 17 matches last season where he tallied six goals, five assists and 17 points … Ramos led the team in goals and points and was tied for the team lead in assists

ABOUT UNCG    

• UNCG has won its last two matches and sits 9-2-4 overall and 2-1-1 in SoCon play
• The Spartans are 7-0-1 at home this season
• UNCG was ranked as high as No. 18 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll earlier this season
• As a team, the Spartans have scored 27 goals and allowed 12
• Yoshiya Okawa and Arnaud Tattevin have combined for 13 goals this season … Okawa leads the team with seven goals and has tallied 17 points
• Seth Wilson and Tim Baerwalde have split time in goal this season … Wilson started the first 10 games of the season where he went 5-1-4 in goal with five shuouts … Baerwalde has started the last five games and is 4-1-0 in those contests with two shutouts

SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday marks the 22nd all-time meeting in the series
• The series is deadlocked at 7-7-7 all-time
• The Bucs won last year's meeting 6-0 in Johnson City
• ETSU is 4-2-4 all-time in Greensboro
• The Bucs' last win in Greensboro came in 2017 when ETSU came away with a 2-1 victory

WHAT'S NEXT
The Southern Conference Tournament begins next week on campus sites with the quarterfinals being held on Friday, Nov. 8 and the semifinals scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 10.
 
For more information on Buccaneer men's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's soccer tab.