Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Bucs continue to rise in national spotlight

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (September 27, 2011) – For the first time in program history, the ETSU men’s soccer team has broken into the NSCAA national rankings, coming in at No. 24 in this week’s poll, as released on Tuesday.

The Bucs are also ranked No. 22 in the Soccer America national rankings, and check in at No. 26 in the College Soccer News Top 30.

Barely missing out on last week’s NSCAA top-25 – placing as the highest vote getters of the unranked teams – the Bucs were slated to face Virginia Tech, Winthrop and then-No.25/23 Furman. ETSU went 1-0-1 in that stretch, defeating Virginia Tech, 1-0, and playing to a scoreless draw against Furman. The Winthrop game scheduled for Friday was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Sophomore David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.) was the hero in the Tech match, scoring the game-winning goal in the 77th minute. Geno’s goal wound up as the only score for the Buccaneers through the week, as redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Coulter (Dublin, Ireland) posted shutouts against both Tech and Furman en route to being named Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Week. Coulter has now earned the honor twice this season – his other selection coming the week of September 6.

The ETSU men’s soccer team will defend its NSCAA ranking on Thursday, September 29, when it travels to Nashville, Tenn. for its first conference game of the season against Belmont.

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