Bucs Impressive Against Presbyterian in Season Opener

August 28, 2011

Schoenfeld, Osorio and Geno lead ETSU to a shutout of PC

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (August 27, 2011) – In front of nearly 1,000 fans on opening night the reigning Atlantic Sun champions put on a show, blanking Presbyterian, 3-0, on Saturday inside Summers-Taylor Stadium. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Coulter (Dublin, Ireland) earned his first clean sheet of 2011 as ETSU looked impressive in its season opener.

It took only 10:46 for senior Aaron Schoenfeld (Knoxville, Tenn.) to score off the Bucs’ first shot of the season while junior Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas) and sophomore David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.) put the game on ice, each scoring in the second half and ensuring the Bucs a clean start to 2011.

“This is a good start to the season,” said head coach Scott Calabrese. “It’s very important to win at home and that’s always been a focus for us. I’m pleased with our performance, especially in the second half, because I thought we responded very well and played much more our game.”

The first 10 minutes of the game were fairly quiet before the Bucs pounced on their first opportunity.

With ETSU (1-0-0) in the midst of creating its first scoring chance, junior Theo Yang (Lilburn, Ga.) gained possession of the ball and broke down the left side of the field with Schoenfeld in front. Spotting the opening, Yang sent in a through ball on the ground ahead of Schoenfeld and the senior captain sprinted by the PC defenders and beat goalkeeper Tanner Osborne on the shot in the right side of the net.

Presbyterian (0-1-0) struggled to create many opportunities through the remainder of the first half as the ETSU defense played fantastically off the jolt from Schoenfeld’s goal.

Freshman Simon Schroettle (Rain, Germany), making his first start as a Buccaneer, made numerous key tackles when PC showed signs of life. With a Presbyterian attacker developing a dangerous chance with 15 minutes to play in the half, Schroettle executed a perfect slide tackle that cleared out the threat and put ETSU back on the attack.

Combining for nine fouls throughout the remainder of the first half, tempers started to flare. With 15 seconds to go before halftime a scrum developed near both benches that resulted in a yellow card for Presbyterian’s Ignacio Monchetti and ETSU’s Itode Fubara (Ogbema, Nigeria).

The Bucs outshot Presbyterian, 7-3, and held a, 3-1, advantage in corners through the first half.

The dispute at the end of the first half proved costly for Presbyterian, as ETSU stormed out of the locker room and sent in its second goal on the first shot of the second half courtesy of Osorio. Junior Frank Doumbe (Silver Spring, Md.) took possession early and brought the ball deep into the corner. Sidestepping his defender, Doumbe sent a ball into the six yard box that found Osorio to add a little insurance to what was a slim lead.

The Buccaneers put little to doubt, holding possession of the ball through what seemed to be the entire second half. Taking 13 shots to Presbyterian’s one while also creating a 7-0 advantage in corners, ETSU continued to dominate the second half with multiple near misses off a conglomerate amount of opportunities.

The last of ETSU’s total of 20 shots found the goal off the foot of David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.). With less than five minutes to play the Bucs continued their relentless pressure as Schoenfeld, moving the ball into the box, fired an attempt that deflected off Osborne and fell alarmingly loose in front of goal. The rebound was won by Schoenfeld who tapped the ball to Geno on his left side to send home the no-doubter for the, 3-0, advantage.

ETSU outshot Presbyterian, 20-4, and created a, 10-1, edge in corner kicks for the game.

“We had some very good performances tonight and I’m very pleased that many of the returners got on the score sheet,” said Calabrese. “We’re now looking forward to a very difficult match against UNC-Greensboro in the midweek.”

The midweek match will come on Wednesday, August, 31, against UNC-Greensboro in Greensboro, N.C. at 7 p.m.

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