JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Aug. 22, 2024) – The ETSU men's soccer team opened the Allen Vital era with a 3-1 win over Longwood on Thursday night at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
 
Highlighted by three unanswered goals by the Buccaneer offense, the Blue & Gold rallied to a two-goal win over the Lancers in the 2024 opener.
 
The Bucs, who outshot Longwood 17-11 on the night, received goals from newcomers Ingvar Kolbjornsen and Henrique Cruz, along with returner and redshirt sophomore Zayd Idlibi. In addition to the goals, Abdi Bahur collected three assists, Gabriel Ramos had two and Matias Delellis secured one. Following his two assists, Ramos moved into a tie for third all-time with Itode Fubara (2010-13) with 13.
 
Marc Kouadio secured his 13th career win in goal (third at ETSU) as he made two saves in the full 90 minutes.
 
Coach Vital, who was named leader of the program back in February, brought in 16 newcomers to make up the 2024 Buccaneer roster and earned his first win in the Blue & Gold and his 257th career victory in year number 28 as a head coach.
 
ETSU fell behind early as the Lancers got on the board in the 18th minute on a goal from Anthony Vargas, but after shaking off some nerves, the Buccaneers bounced back.
 
They bounced back in a big way.
 
Kolbjornsen, making his collegiate debut, began the scoring late in the first half as Ramos soared a pass across the pitch to an open Bahur. Bahur then drove it into the box – and after drawing defenders near him as well as bringing keeper Max Hinke out of the net – Kolbjornsen took advantage of an open goal to pull ETSU even at, 1-1.
 
The game remained tied after the opening 45 minutes, but the Buccaneers had the momentum.
 
Twelve minutes into the second half, Idlibi gave ETSU its first lead of the night when Bahur sprinted up the right side and sent a perfect cross over to Ramos. From there, Ramos found Idlibi open inside the box where he fired a strike into the left corner of the net for his second career goal.
 
Playing with the lead, the Buccaneers were confident and loose. Twenty minutes later Cruz put the icing on the cake. Delellis got the ball at mid-field and hit Bahur sprinting straight up the middle of the pitch. After dancing around two defenders as he was going to the left-side of the box, Bahur hit Cruz with a crossing pass and the Buccaneer defender sealed the win by hitting the open net in the 77th minute.
 
With the win, ETSU has now won its last four openers, while Coach Vital became the third Buccaneer head coach to capture a victory in his debut.
 
The Bucs gear up for their road opener as ETSU plays at USC Upstate on Sunday night at 6 p.m.
 
For more information on Buccaneer men's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's soccer tab.