JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 7, 2024) – It was a tale of two halves for the ETSU men's soccer team on Saturday afternoon at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
 
Jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 21 minutes of the game, the Buccaneers saw UNC Wilmington score twice in the second half to force a 2-2 draw in non-conference action.
 
ETSU got on the board in the 11th minute when the Bucs earned a corner kick and Gabriel Ramos sent a beautiful cross to Henrique Cruz who found the back of the net for his second goal of the season. Ten minutes later, Ramos got in on the goal scoring when Cruz and Oliver Einarsson set up the Buccaneer captain for his first score of the campaign, giving the Blue & Gold the 2-0 advantage.
 
The Buccaneer defense was stellar in the first 45 minutes as ETSU limited the Seahawks to two shots – one forcing Marc Kouadio to make a save in the opening minutes of the contest.
 
Unfortunately, UNCW picked up the pace in the second half and struck for a pair of goals to pull even at, 2-2. Osei Gyamfi pulled the visitors within a goal with his first goal in the 53rd minute, while he helped set up the equalizer seven minutes later as Josef Hefele registered his first goal of the year.
 
Kouadio made four of his five saves in the second half, while UNCW outshot the Bucs, 13-4 in the final 45. Of ETSU's four shots in the second half, one was on target – coming from Lucas Nordin in the 81st minute. Six minute earlier, Nordin put the Seahawks' defense on skates and set himself up for a shot; however, he passed it over to Jimmy Choi on the left side who just missed the net.
 
For the contest, UNCW was plus-eight in shots, 15-7, while both teams were called for eight fouls. The Seahawks had 11 corners to ETSU's six.
 
With the draw, ETSU moved to 1-2-2, while UNCW remained unbeaten at 1-0-3.
 
The Bucs now embark on a four-game road swing starting Wednesday night at High Point. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
 
For more information on Buccaneer men's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's soccer tab.