Dykes and Geno put an end to the Eagles’ 12-game A-Sun winning streak

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (October 16, 2011) – Down 1-0 at the start of the second half, redshirt freshman Nick Dykes (Nashville, Tenn.) put in the equalizer and sophomore David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.) sent in the game-winner as the ETSU men’s soccer team completed the comeback to defeat Florida Gulf Coast, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at Summers-Taylor Stadium.

“This was a critical conference match for us,” said ETSU head coach Scott Calabrese. “We showed a lot of fight, passion and determination throughout the game.

“We went down 1-0 but never panicked and knew we would get back into the match. [Dykes] scores a fantastic goal off a corner kick with a header from the post. Once we got to 1-1 we continued to fight and [Geno] finished an unbelievable cross.”

Dykes’ equalizer came in the 53rd minute, his first collegiate goal, before Geno sent in the game-winner in the 57th minute. The victory is ETSU’s (8-4-2, 2-3-1 A-Sun) first over FGCU (6-4-2, 3-1-0 A-Sun) since October 16, 2009, and is FGCU’s first loss in conference play since dropping the final game of the 2009 season to Stetson, 1-0.

The Bucs outshot FGCU 15-12 through the match and held a decisive 9-2 advantage in corners. In a very physical match, the two teams combined for 33 fouls.

ETSU got plenty of opportunities to score right from the start. The Buccaneers took six of the game’s first seven shots while setting up the first two corner kicks as well. Those chances came through the first 21 minutes of the contest, but the Buccaneers did not convert early as the Eagles kept the game at 0-0.

In the 29th minute, FGCU turned the tables and put up the first goal of the match. Frederico Crespo came down the far left side of the field and sent a ball to Josey Portillo in the box. Portillo met the ball in the air and headed it past redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Coulter (Dublin, Ireland) for the game’s first goal.

The goal was the only Coulter conceded throughout the remainder of the match, as the Irish keeper made five saves to record his eighth victory of the season.

Halftime came with the Bucs still trailing, 1-0, but leading the Eagles 10-6 in shots and 4-0 in corners.

Sophomore Itode Fubara (Ogbema, Nigeria) led ETSU out of the gates in the second half, putting a shot on goal and creating two chances from the corner. After getting his first corner cleared away, Fubara sent in his second corner of the half and found a leaping Dykes near the middle of the box. Dykes connected with the ball as his header sailed past the hands of Adam Glick and into the left side of the net for the equalizing goal.

Minutes later, ETSU found another opportunity to score did so on a very athletic goal. Sophomore Blaike Woodruff (Georgetown, Texas) found space down the near right side of the field and sent a cross through the air and into the center of the box. Sprinting downfield, Geno leapt and connected with Woodruff’s cross in midair to put a shot past Glick and push ETSU ahead, 2-1.

With nearly 30 minutes remaining in the match, FGCU still had plenty of time for a response but could not find the back of the net off two shots by Deion Jones and one shot by Xavier Silva. The Bucs wound up being outshot 6-5 through the second 45 minutes, but put two of their five shot attempts through for the one-goal victory.

ETSU gained a much needed three points in the A-Sun standings, as the Bucs had only collected four entering Sunday’s matchup. Next weekend the Bucs hit the road for Macon, Ga. for their final road game of the regular season when they look for more points against Mercer on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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