Tuesday, September 29, 2009

(Sept. 29, 2009) - The ETSU men's soccer team dropped a tough match to UNC Asheville as the Bucs fell 1-0 to the Bulldogs on an extremely windy Tuesday afternoon at Greenwood Field in Asheville, N.C.

"This was a disappointing result for us," said head coach Scott Calabrese. "We played under difficult conditions with the wind. Asheville is a very organized team and is very dangerous on the counterattack and set pieces. They stifled our attack, and we had a difficult time getting in behind them and really creating clear cut chances."

The Bucs (1-4-2) outshot the Bulldogs (4-5-1) 14-9 in the match, while Asheville had a slight advantage in corners, 5-4. Senior Scott Rosman (Kenner, La.) had one save in the match, and freshman Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas) had a team high five shots.

"In the second half I think we figured out how not to become susceptible to the counter attack," Calabrese said. "They got their goal on a set piece where we just lost our concentration. We had to push the pace late in the game as we had some chances but couldn't get the equalizing goal."

ETSU had a couple good looks as the Bucs pressured UNCA early in the match. Sophomore Aaron Schoenfeld (Knoxville, Tenn.) blasted a shot from 25 yards out in the 25^th minute giving Asheville a scare.

The Bulldogs challenged the ETSU back line late in the first half as Bryan Bartels had a good look, but Rosman was up to the challenge keeping the game scoreless.

The Bucs had another good chance late in the half as Osorio headed a cross from Schoenfeld into the hands of the UNCA keeper Lassi Hurskainen.

The game remained scoreless at the break as Asheville outshot the Buccaneers 7-6 in the half.

In the second half, the Bulldogs got on the board as Jake Hagedorn slipped in behind ETSU back line and knocked a pass from Connor Holzinger into the back of the net to give Asheville a 1-0 lead in the 59^th minute.

ETSU put on the pressure late in the second half the Bucs had a couple quality chances. Schoenfeld had a ball go off of the crossbar in the 87^th minute, and a point blank shot saved in the 90^th minute as the Bucs could not get the equalizer.

The Bucs are back in action on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. as they open conference play against USC Upstate at Summers-Taylor Stadium. For more information on Buccaneer men's soccer and all other Buccaneer athletic news, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.