Tuesday, August 14, 2012

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Aug. 14, 2012) – The ETSU men’s soccer team opened up the 2012 preseason against Milligan on Tuesday night at Summers-Taylor Stadium, conceding two second half goals and falling by a score of 2-1.

ETSU junior David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.) put the Buccaneers ahead in the 16th minute with a goal off a through ball from fellow classmate Itode Fubara (Ogbema, Nigeria), but Milligan’s Chris Ochieng responded with two second-half scores to give the Buffs the lead and eventual victory.

“The first half was very good in a lot of respects,” fifth-year ETSU head coach Scott Calabrese said. “We created a number of chances, defended well and put into play many of the concepts we have been working on during the preseason. We seemed to have a firm grip on the game with the majority of possession and chances; however, when you do not convert those chances you allow your opponent the opportunity to get a result. As the game wore on, we allowed [Milligan] too many opportunities and let in two avoidable goals.”

The Bucs outshot Milligan 20-5, including a 15-0 advantage through the first 45 minutes. Fubara and senior Theo Yang (Lilburn, Ga.) led the game with four shots apiece, but ETSU was eventually outdueled by Ochieng’s two goals off all three of Milligan’s shots on goal.

“In the end, it is a preseason game and it’s an exercise to try and determine what we’re doing well and what we need to work on,” Calabrese added. “Even though the result is not what we wanted, we can still take a lot of positives from this game and address our mistakes in training.”

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