Bucs drop first contest of A-Sun season

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (September 29, 2011) – Belmont’s Brandon Tarr and Will Moorad combined for two goals and two assists through the second half, as the Bruins used a one-man advantage to defeat ETSU, 3-1, on Thursday night at E.S. Rose Park.

In what was a game that played woefully different from half to half, ETSU saw its 1-0 lead fall to pieces through the match’s second 45 minutes. Junior Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas) was red carded at the start of the second half, and Belmont used the man up to the likes of three second half goals.

The loss was ETSU’s first in A-Sun play since dropping a, 5-0, match to FGCU back on October 8 of last year.

ETSU drops to 6-2-1 (0-1-0 A-Sun) with the loss as Belmont gets back to .500 at 5-5-0 (1-0-0 A-Sun).

Senior Aaron Schoenfeld (Knoxville, Tenn.) got things going for ETSU five minutes in, when he blasted a shot from the top of the box that got deflected and sent over the crossbar for a corner. David Geno sent in the corner, but after a pass the Bucs were called for an offside.

The second time Schoenfeld and Geno went on the attack, the Buccaneers put up their first goal of the conference season. Geno collected the ball on Belmont’s side of the field and found Schoenfeld with a pass along the left half of the field. Taking a few steps forward, Schoenfeld rolled a shot past Lou Manning in goal and into the left side of the net.

The senior captain took control of the first half, firing off five shots and creating multiple opportunites for the Bucs to score.

The Bruins didn’t come across their first opportunity to score until 28 minutes had already elapsed in the match. Will Moorad got free down the left side and approached the goal at an angle towards Coulter, but his shot went well high of the net

As time was winding down in the opening half, Theo Yang (Lilburn, Ga.) was fouled near the top left corner of the box and ETSU had one more opportunity to add to their first half lead. Geno used the free kick to put a shot on goal that rebounded off of Manning to Yang who slid in and got a second attempt off, but had the opportunity blocked.

The buzzer sounded and ETSU went into the locker rooms holding a 1-0 lead, along with an 11-3 advantage in shots.

The Bucs went on the attack early in the second half, when three minutes in a dangerous ball was sent in that Belmont’s Diego Figueroa cleared away.

As the ball went out of play, a match that seemed dominated by ETSU was suddenly turned upside-down, as the referee blew his whistle and issued a red card to junior Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas) in the 48th minute.

Although they held a 1-0 lead, the Bucs were forced to manage the rest of the match playing a man down.

The one man advantage took its effect in the 60th minute. After Itode Fubara (Ogbema, Nigeria) nearly scored a minute before, Belmont’s Tarr equalized the match. Moorad took control of the ball off Belmont’s goal kick and gave off a pass to Tarr who dribbled into the left half of the box and put a shot past the oncoming Coulter.

The tie was broken with just under seven minutes to play. Tarr and Moorad played a give-and-go in the box with Moorad passing off to Tarr for a header from just in front of goal. The shot went clear by Coulter and the Bruins took a 2-1 lead.

Less than a minute passed before Belmont took control by adding to the lead. The Bruins’ Nico Olsak had a clear view of goal from near the top of the box, and chipped a shot over Coulter that fell just under the crossbar.

Junior Frank Doumbe (Silver Spring, Md.) and Geno were red carded through the final minutes on separate fouls.

When the game ended, the Bucs still held a 16-14 advantage in shots, but were down where it mattered. Belmont’s victory is its first over ETSU since the two squads first met on October 11, 2008.

The ETSU men’s soccer team will return home on Sunday, when they welcome Lipscomb to Summers-Taylor Stadium at 1 p.m.

For more information on ETSU men’s soccer please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s soccer links.