JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 16, 2024) – After playing a rigorous 15-game regular season schedule followed by a thrilling semifinal match that ended in penalty kicks, the ETSU men's soccer team puts it all on the line this Sunday.
 
The second-seeded Buccaneers will host the fourth-seeded Furman Paladins in the 2024 Southern Conference Tournament championship match at 2 p.m. from Summers-Taylor Stadium. The winner of the match will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
GAMEDAY INFO
No. 2 ETSU (5-6-5) vs. No. 4 Furman (8-3-5)
Sunday, Nov. 17 • 2 p.m. • Summers-Taylor Stadium • ESPN+ • Live Stats

• Free Admission

ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU enters Sunday's match with an overall record of 5-6-5
• The Bucs are unbeaten at home this season with ETSU going 3-0-4 … ETSU's last home loss came last Sept. 19 when the Bucs dropped a 2-0 decision to UNC Asheville
• The last time ETSU lost a home match to a SoCon team was back on Oct. 30, 2021 when the Bucs fell to UNCG, 2-0 – a span of 1,115 days
• Allen Vital, in his first season as Buccaneer head coach, was named SoCon Coach of the Year … Vital joins David Lilly (2023) and Bo Oshoniyi (2016, 2017) as ETSU coaches to win SoCon Coach of the Year honors … Coach Calabrese was named 2010 ASUN Coach of the Year
• Gabriel Ramos (first team) and Louie Salkeld (second team) earned all-SoCon honors
• Ingvar Kolbjornsen, Oliver Einarsson and Ulysses Hendriks all landed a spot on the SoCon all-freshman team
• Ramos leads the team in goals (6), assists (7), points (19), shots (26) and shots on goal (12) … Ramos, who either recorded a goal or assist in eight of the 15 regular season games played, finished tied for first in the SoCon in assists … The Buccaneer captain also ranked second in the conference in points and was tied for third in goals
• Ramos' seven assists rank third among ETSU single-season leaders and his 19 points are tied for eighth … Ramos registered goals in three of the Bucs' five SoCon matches and had assists in two
• In 70 career matches (63 starts), Ramos has totaled 17 goals, 18 assists and 52 points
• The 17 goals rank seventh all-time in program history, while his 52 points also rank seventh-most by a Buccaneer and his 18 assists rank third
• Marc Kouadio has started all 16 games in goal for the Blue & Gold … Kouadio has totaled 79 saves and registered three shutouts
• Kouadio ranks ninth nationally in saves per game (4.94), 10th in total saves and 24th in save percentage (.790)
• As a team, ETSU ranks 12th nationally in saves per game (5.00) and 31st in save percentage (.769)
• 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

THE BUCS IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

• The Bucs have won three regular season SoCon titles (2016, 2017, 2023), while ETSU has made three NCAA Tournament appearances (2010, 2013, 2016)
• In 2010, ETSU lost 3-2 at College of Charleston, in 2013 lost 2-0 at Coastal Carolina and in 2016 – when the Bucs earned an at-large bid – the Blue & Gold fell 1-0 at Virginia Tech
• The Blue & Gold won two ASUN Tournament titles (2010, 2013), but ETSU is still searching for its first SoCon Tournament crown … ETSU defeated Stetson 1-0 to win the 2010 title in Johnson City, while the Bucs won the 2013 tournament with a 3-1 win over North Florida in Fort Myers, Fla.
• ETSU is 2-7-5 all-time in the SoCon Tournament … The Bucs have played six overtime games and five of those contests went to penalty kicks … ETSU is 2-3 in penalty kicks in the SoCon Tournament
• ETSU hasn't won a SoCon Tournament game since 2016 when the top-seeded Bucs took down No. 4 UNCG, 4-2
• The Bucs have reached the SoCon championship game twice, but ETSU fell in both contests … The Blue & Gold – who were the No. 4 seed – lost the 2015 title game to No. 2 Furman, 1-0 … ETSU returned to the title game a year later as the No. 1 seed, but the Bucs fell to No. 2 Mercer in penalty kicks, 4-1

ABOUT FURMAN     

• Furman has an overall record of 8-3-5 and went 2-1-2 in SoCon play
• Like the Bucs, Furman advanced to Sunday's championship via penalty kicks over No. 1 UNCG … The Paladins scored the game-tying goal with 10 seconds remaining in regulation and defeated the top-seeded Spartans in penalty kicks, 6-5
• Prior to last Sunday's semifinal match, Furman defeated Mercer, 2-0 in the quarterfinal match
• Furman is searching for its 15th SoCon title and 12th NCAA Tournament berth … The Paladins haven't won a SoCon title since 2018
• Christian Kraus, Lloyd Wamu Snell and Wilfer Bustamante all have scored five goals this season for the Paladins … The trio have also combined for eight assists
• As a team, Furman has outscored its opposition, 25-16
• The Paladins are led by Aaron Salinas in goal as he has made 39 saves and registered four shutouts … Salinas was named SoCon Goalkeeper of the Year

SERIES HISTORY

• Sunday marks the 22nd all-time meeting in the series
• Furman leads the series, 10-4-7
• ETSU is 2-0-1 in the last three meetings as the Bucs won 1-0 in 2022, 2-0 in 2023 and the teams played to a 1-1 draw last month in Johnson City
• The Bucs are 2-6-4 against Furman in Johnson City
• ETSU and Furman have met twice in SoCon Tournament play … Furman defeated the Bucs 1-0 in the 2015 SoCon Championship and knocked the Bucs out in the 2018 semifinals, 2-1 … Both tournament games were played in Johnson City
• The two teams have played each season since 2010

WHAT'S NEXT
The winner of Sunday's SoCon Championship will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament bracket will be announced on Monday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com, while the tournament will begin on Thursday, Nov. 21.
 
For more information on Buccaneer men's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's soccer tab.