Geno ties Schoenfeld’s career points record

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 5, 2012) -- The ETSU men's soccer team tied the program record for goals in a game, scoring four times in a, 4-0, rout of North Florida on Friday night in Atlantic Sun action at Summers-Taylor Stadium.

Junior David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.) opened the scoring in the 24th minute to give ETSU (5-5-1, 1-1-0 A-Sun) a one-goal lead at the break, and the Bucs kept the pressure on with three second-half scores from Franck Doumbe (Silver Spring, Md.), Colin Pugh (Dublin, Ireland) and Theo Yang (Lilburn, Ga.). Geno assisted Pugh's goal, moving his career points total to 50 and tying Aaron Schoenfeld's school record.

“I thought we responded really well after having such a rough stretch of games,” said Geno, who is also just one goal shy of Scheonfeld’s career goals record (20). “We came out flying from the start and really accomplished what we worked on in practice this week, which was to be more dangerous in the attacking third.”

The Bucs outshot UNF (3-7-0, 0-1-0 A-Sun) 17-6 for the game, but, more importantly, put 12 of those shots on goal. Meanwhile, North Florida put just one of its shots on frame, which ETSU keeper Ryan Coulter (Dublin, Ireland) saved to earn his third shutout of the season.

“This was a very good team performance,” ETSU head coach Scott Calabrese said. “I was very pleased with the effort and attitude of the team. The amount of shots we put on frame was a massive improvement, and it’s something we focused on in training and put a big emphasis on.”

One of ETSU’s first shots on goal came early on, when Geno was sprung free for a one-on-one opportunity against UNF keeper Kyle Nasta. The Osprey keeper came out from his goal line to close the gap on Geno, and made a great save to keep ESTU at bay for the time being. Nasta wound up with eight saves on the night.

Geno was not denied his conference-leading seventh goal, playing a one-touch past Nasta off an excellent cross from Pugh to put the Bucs in front midway through the half. Defender Maximilian Muemken (Muenster, Germany) played a long pass along the left side of the field to Pugh in the attacking third, and Pugh sent a low cross through which met Geno in stride for the score.

UNF’s best scoring chance of the half came after Geno’s goal, when Maurici Valderruten lined up a free kick from about 25 yards and bounced his shot off the crossbar. The rebound was cleared away, and when the halftime horn sounded ETSU led off Geno’s 19th career goal, outshooting the Ospreys by a margin of 6-3 in the half.

The game’s second act was all ETSU, beginning with Doumbe’s first goal of the year. Redshirt junior Luis Calzadilla (Caracas, Venezuela) received the ball near the top-left corner of the box, and played a quick pass over to Doumbe. The senior played the ball back to Calzadilla, who stepped a defender and sprung Doumbe free who put a shot in the upper-right corner to give ETSU a two-goal advantage.

In the 65th minute, in was Pugh’s turn to register a goal. Junior defender and A-Sun Preseason All-Conference selection Blaike Woodruff (Georgetown, Texas) connected on a long overhead pass, which found Geno along the left touch line. The junior striker then returned the favor to Pugh, sending in a perfect cross to catch the redshirt senior in front on his first score of the year.

Up by three goals, ETSU was well on its way to its first victory of the conference season, but not done scoring. This time, Yang struck the back of the net on his first of the season to tie ETSU’s program record for goals in a game. Senior Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas) played a pass through to Itode Fubara (Ogbema, Nigeria) near the top of the box, who played a soft touch back to an oncoming Yang. The senior controlled the ball, and sent a shot over Nasta and under the crossbar with 13 minutes to play.

A fifth was not in the cards, but ETSU will hope to save some for Sunday, when it concludes the home weekend with Jacksonville at Summers-Taylor Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

ETSU Notes

- ETSU’s four goals tied the school record for the most in a game. The Bucs have scored four goals on two other occasions, defeating Campbell 4-0 on Sept. 30, 2010, and beating USC Upstate 4-1 on Oct. 27 of that same year. The four-goal margin of victory also ties the school record set in the Campbell game.

- David Geno scored his conference-leading seventh goal of the season, while also registering his fourth assist. He has 18 points on the year, and 50 for his career tying Schoenfeld for the most in ETSU history.

- Three different Buccaneers scored their first goal of the season, as Franck Doumbe, Colin Pugh and Theo Yang all found the back of the net.

- ETSU recorded seven assists in the game by seven different Buccaneers. Luis Calzadilla, Alesi Osorio, and Maximilian Muemken all posted their first of the season.

ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for “Buc Updates.” Click here to sign up today!

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