GREENSBORO, N.C. (Nov. 2, 2024) – Needing just one point to secure an outright Southern Conference regular season title for the second straight year, the ETSU men's soccer team suffered a hard-fought 3-2 setback to UNCG on Saturday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
 
Despite the loss, the Buccaneers secured a share of the regular season conference crown as ETSU and UNCG finished with 10 points. The Bucs earned the No. 2 seed in next week's SoCon Tournament where ETSU will host the quarterfinal and semifinal matches at Summers-Taylor Stadium. The Blue & Gold received a bye to the semifinal and await the winner of No. 3 Wofford-No. 6 VMI, which will be played Friday at 1 p.m. at ETSU's Summers-Taylor Stadium. ETSU's semifinal match will be played Sunday at 2 p.m.

With the setback, ETSU finished the regular season with an overall record of 5-6-4 and a 3-1-1 mark in SoCon play. This snapped the Bucs' nine-game unbeaten streak and was their first conference setback since Oct. 29, 2022 when ETSU fell 3-2 at Mercer. Meanwhile, UNCG improved to 10-2-4 overall and 3-1-1 in league play. The Spartans are now 8-0-1 at home this season. 
 
Saturday's match was a roller-coaster for the Buccaneers as ETSU fell behind by a goal in the 10th minute and trailed 1-0 at halftime. From there, the Bucs trailed by two goals twice in the second half – the first being 2-0 and then again at 3-1. However, ETSU kept fighting and cut the deficit to a goal twice, but the Bucs never could net the equalizer.
 
Gabriel Ramos scored the Bucs' first goal in the 63rd minute, making it 2-1. The goal was set up when Hubert Deragon took the ball away from a Spartan player at midfield, fed a pass to Oliver Einarsson and he found Ramos near the top of the 18-yard box. The Buccaneer captain fired one past the UNCG keeper for his team-leading sixth goal of the campaign.
 
The second-half scoring continued as 10 minutes later UNCG went ahead 3-1 on a goal by Enzo Dovlo, but the Buccaneers didn't back down.
Just a minute and 37-seconds later, Deragon got in on the fun as he fired a laser from over 20 yards out to the upper left corner of the frame for his first goal as Buccaneer, making it a 3-2 score in the 74th minute. The goal was set up by Einarsson having the ball on the right side of midfield and he sent a pass forward to the center of the pitch to Ramos. From there, Ramos found Deragon sprinting ahead ono the left side. Deragon received the pass and fired a laser to the goal to beat the UNCG keeper.
 
Unfortunately, UNCG held possession for most of the closing portion of the match and kept the Bucs from any final scoring chances as the Spartans held on for the victory to clinch the No. 1 seed. Following the game, ETSU turned its attention to the Furman-Mercer game in Greenville, S.C., as the Bucs needed a Mercer win or tie to secure the No. 2 seed. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and both those teams will be the No. 4-5 quarterfinal game in the UNCG pod next Friday.
 
For the match, ETSU took 15 shots – 10 coming in the second half – compared to UNCG registering nine. Both keepers made two saves, including a stellar diving stop by Marc Kouadio in the final minute to give the Bucs one last effort at a tying goal opportunity. The Bucs were plus-two in corner kicks, 6-4, and doubled up UNCG in fouls, 12-6.
 
Abdi Bahur led the Bucs with five shots, while Ramos and Einarsson each had three. With his goal and assist, Ramos now has 19 points and seven assists on the season. The seven assists now rank third all-time in ETSU single-season history where Ramos broke his and Joao Ramalho (2016) mark of six.
 
The Bucs now turn their attention to postseason play, which for ETSU, begins Sunday against the winner of Wofford-VMI at 2 p.m. at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
 
For more information on Buccaneer men's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's soccer tab.