Buccaneers go a man down for the second-consecutive game and cannot recover

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (October 2, 2011) – The A-Sun woes continued on Sunday afternoon for the No. 24/22 ETSU men’s soccer team, as the Bucs went a man down for the second-consecutive match and fell, 2-1, to the Lipscomb at Summers-Taylor Stadium.

The loss snapped ETSU’s streak of 15-consecutive victories over unranked opponents when playing at home. The streak started, ironically, when ETSU defeated Lipscomb back on October 30, 2009.

“It was another difficult game, as all conference games are,” commented head coach Scott Calabrese. “We managed to give away another red card and simultaneously concede a penalty which put [Lipscomb] ahead.

“We had a rough one against Belmont as well, having a number of red cards in that game which put us in a difficult situation here. We made some critical errors that, again, led to the wrong result.”

ETSU (6-3-1, 0-2-0 A-Sun) has now lost its first two Atlantic Sun games for the first time since 2008, when the Bucs started 0-4-0 in conference play.

Lipscomb (2-8-2, 1-1-0 A-Sun) came into Sunday searching for just its second win of the season, and earned it via goals from Nick Bibb and Garrett Pettis. Pettis’ goal came on a penalty kick after Blaike Woodruff (Georgetown, Texas) was red carded for a hand ball that saved a Lipscomb shot from going into goal in the 39th minute.

The penalty kick goal gave Lipscomb a, 2-1, lead, and, with the one man advantage, the Bisons never relinquished their hold on the game. When it was all over, Lipscomb held a 14-11 shot advantage over ETSU and put six shots on goal to the Bucs’ four.

The Bucs began Sunday’s match with a depleted starting lineup. Junior Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas), junior Frank Doumbe (Silver Spring, Md.), the team-leader in assists, and sophomore David Geno (Kingsport Tenn.), the team-leader in goals, all had to sit out after receiving red cards against Belmont on Thursday.

Lipscomb took advantage of the situation, starting in the fourteenth minute. Garrett Pettis stole a ball from the ETSU defense and found Nick Bibb in the box. Bibb fired from close range and Lipscomb took the game’s first lead.

The Bisons’ initial lead did not last long, as sophomore Nate Hodges (Meridian, Miss.) equalized the game with an outside chance a minute later. Hodges got the ball just outside the top-left corner of the box, and fired a shot towards the right post that went untouched into the back of the net. The goal was Hodges’ first collegiate goal and the game was tied.

The game seemed headed for a, 1-1, draw into halftime, until an unfortunate error gave Lipscomb the lead. The Bisons went on the attack with a shot from Omar Djabi that ETSU blocked. The rebound went out to Garret Pettis and he fired a ball that was going straight for goal, but Woodruff was there to deflect it out of play; however, the referee judged the save as having gone off Woodruff’s hand, issuing the sophomore a red card and Lipscomb a penalty.

The Bisons converted and took a, 2-1, lead and man-up advantage into halftime.

It was déjà vu for ETSU through the second half, playing at an 11-10 man disadvantage for the second time in four days. Although down, the Bucs held Lipscomb off the scoreboard for the entire half while creating good chances to score.

Theo Yang (Lilburn Ga.) nearly scored four minutes into the second frame, taking a shot that was blocked but then collecting his own rebound. Yang’s second attempt also had to be blocked by Lipscomb’s back line, but the threat was evaded when the Bucs were called for a foul. The junior finished the match with a game-high five shots, getting two on goal.

The Bucs held down the throttle for the entire half, outshooting Lipscomb 6-4, while also holding a 5-3 advantage in corners, but could not find the second equalizer as the clock showed no time remaining.

Still searching for its first A-Sun victory, the ETSU men’s soccer team will head to Florida for two games next weekend, first taking on North Florida on Friday at 7 p.m.

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