Geno’s Goal Gives ETSU the Victory, 3-2, Over Davidson

September 18, 2011

David Geno scores in the 87th minute to seal the Bucs’ fifth win

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (September 17, 2011) – In a game that showcased a lot of goal scoring, the ETSU men’s soccer team pulled out a victory, 3-2, against Davidson on Saturday night inside Summers-Taylor Stadium.

Sophomore David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.) scored his third goal of the season with under five minutes to play, as ETSU notched its second three-goal game and and fifth win of 2011. Senior Aaron Schoenfeld (Knoxville, Tenn) scored his third goal of the year as well, and Itode Fubara (Ogbema, Nigeria), the Atlantic Sun Preseason Player of the Year, scored his first.

“I think it is a sign of a good team when you don’t necessarily play at your best, but you’re able to grind it out and get the result you need,” said head coach Scott Calabrese. “At home things tend to go our way, and tonight we showed that we can get a win even when we play less than our best soccer.”

The offensive burst was not what either team expected coming into the game. Both ETSU and Davidson had earned four shutouts in each of their first five games, with Davidson having only given up two goals on the year before tonight.

The match featured two ties and two lead changes as the Bucs and Wildcats dug deep for energy during the final minutes. Davidson put away the game’s first goal, but it was Geno for ETSU who finished with the last as the Bucs, although not as planned, will more than gladly walk away with the victory.

The Wildcats (3-2-1) got on top first off the game’s first shot. Davidson’s Gabe Rivera beat Ryan Coulter (Dublin, Ireland) to the ball on the left side of the box and dribbled to his right towards an open net. With nobody in front, Rivera easily put away the chance and Davidson grabbed the early lead.

ETSU (5-1-0) did not let Davidson hold the lead for long. Less than five minutes later junior Frank Doumbe (Silver Springs, Md.) brought a ball in near goal with Schoenfeld to his right. As a defender tried to get the ball free, Doumbe flipped the ball towards Schoenfeld that the senior captain drove from waist high into the right side to equalize the match.

Rivera picked up a yellow card in the 33rd minute, and neither team scored through the rest of the opening half. The Bucs outshot the Wildcats, 7-5, in the first, with each side taking two corners.

The second half played much like the first as each team scored through the half’s first 15 minutes.

Fubara, the reigning A-Sun Tournament MVP, scored five minutes in to pull ETSU ahead. On what might have been the best team goal of the season, junior Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas) flipped a ball over Wildcat defenders in the box to Geno at the far post. Geno then took a shot that blew by Chip Sanders in goal and was headed for the near post, but Fubara met the ball before it got there and chipped it home.

Just as Davidson’s first half lead dissipated quickly, so too did ETSU’s. Six minutes after Fubara scored, Brian McGue equalized the game. Playing the ball down the left side of the field, Nick Grube found McGue towards the middle and McGue took a chance from 25 yards out that beat Coulter to his left and settled just inside the right post.

ETSU took seven more shots in the game, but it wasn’t until their final attempt that the Bucs found the net.

As the clocked showed less than five minutes to play, Fubara and Geno created another opportunity but reversed their roles from the previous goal. Fubara had the ball at the top of the box and found Geno to his left who tried to play a shot back across that was deflected. The redirect fooled Sanders as he could only watch as the shot trickled into the left side of the net.

The Bucs ended the game holding a 16-11 shot advantage, putting eight shots on goal to Davidson’s six.

Three days from now, on Tuesday, the ETSU men’s soccer team will retake the field as they will host Virginia Tech at 7 p.m.

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