Saturday, September 06, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 6, 2008) - After giving up an early goal to VMI, the men's soccer team stormed back to defeat the Keydets at Patchin Field in Lexington, Va., Saturday for its second straight win, 2-1.

"It was a very good performance by the guys," said head coach Scott Calabrese. "The team played some of its best soccer today, although we have to start the games better. If we can start games better, that would be big for us."

Patrick Karnwie put VMI on the board in the 2^nd minute as he knocked the ball into the back of the net off of a pass from Brian Harding to give the Keydets a 1-0 advantage. Tom Webster (Knoxville, Tenn.) evened things up for the Bucs in the 43^rd minute as he fired a hard shot from outside the 18 yard box past the Keydet keeper making the score 1-1. ETSU outshot VMI 11-4 in the first half, as the score was 1-1 at the half.

It wouldn't take long for the Bucs to get things going again in the second half as Aliyu Sugri (LaVergne, Tenn.) was able to settle a pass from Tony Nunes (Concord, N.C.) and flick it past the VMI keeper  off of the post and into the goal in the 57^th minute to give ETSU a 2-1 lead.

The Bucs continued to control the ball in the second half playing good defense to preserve the lead. Defensively James Holt (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) led ETSU with two saves earning his second win of the season. ETSU outshot VMI 13-5 in the game with seven shots on goal. The Bucs also had more corners, 5-2.

"We are a resilient group, and even when we get behind in games we believe we can always come back and win," Calabrese said. "Getting back to back wins builds confidence for our guys knowing that they can rely on each other and push through adversity. I think going forward this win was very positive for the program."

The Bucs (2-1) are back in action next Friday at 5 p.m. as they will take on UNC Greensboro in the Elon Classic in Elon, N.C.

Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU men's soccer or any other Buccaneer athletic team.