DeSousa’s early goal holds up

FT. MYERS, Fla. (Oct. 26, 2012) – FGCU’s Felipe DeSousa scored in the 19th minute and the Eagles held on to defeat the ETSU men’s soccer team and end the Bucs’ five-game unbeaten streak, 1-0, in Atlantic Sun play on Friday night at Eagle Field.

ETSU (8-6-2, 4-2-0 A-Sun) was on the attack and threatening to score inside the FGCU (7-5-2, 4-1-0 A-Sun) penalty area in the early going. An Eagle defender cleared the ball away toward midfield, which landed and bounced over the heads of two Buccaneer defenders, springing DeSousa on a breakaway. When DeSousa met keeper Ryan Coulter (Dublin, Ireland) near the top of the box, he rolled a shot left and inside the post to put the Eagles ahead on what eventually proved to be the only goal of the game.

The loss drops ETSU to third place in the A-Sun standings, while FGCU leapfrogs the Bucs and moves into second place with 13 points. Mercer defeated Northern Kentucky on Thursday, and remains atop the league with 15 points.

FGCU outshot the Bucs by a margin of 8-6 for the game.

“Tonight’s result was disappointing for us,” ETSU head coach Scott Calabrese said. “We had a lot of motivation in this game, but we never found our rhythm. We typically rely on our ability to possess the ball and move it quickly, but tonight we just didn’t seem to be in sync.”

Redshirt junior Luis Calzadilla (Caracas, Venezuela) took a game-high three shots, including the first opportunity for either side which sailed high. Following the FGCU goal, Calzadilla headed a shot toward goal off a cross sent in from outside the left half of the penalty area. The header went toward the right post with FGCU keeper Nathan Ingham on the left side of goal, but missed wide on what was ETSU’s best opportunity of the game.

A few minutes into the second half, Calzadilla was fouled near the end line and just inches from the penalty area. Junior Itode Fubara (Ogbema, Nigeria) sent the ensuing free kick into a crowded box, but the opportunity was squandered as the Eagles cleared the ball away.

The two sides took just a pair of shots each in the second half, as the Buccaneers were held goalless and defeated for the first time in nearly a month.

The Bucs continue their weekend on Sunday in DeLand, Fla., taking on Stetson at 1 p.m.

“We learned from this game and we’ll put it behind us,” Calabrese added. “We have a very difficult match against Stetson on Sunday, and it’s critical for us to perform well. Now, we focus on that.”

ETSU Notes

- ETSU saw its five-game unbeaten streak come to an end. The last time the Bucs lost was Sept. 30 against Mercer, 2-1, at Summers-Taylor Stadium. The streak tied for the longest in program history. ETSU has gone unbeaten for five consecutive games two other times.

- ETSU was shutout for just the second time this season. The Bucs were blanked in the season opener at Appalachian State, losing to the Mountaineers, 1-0.

- David Geno’s streak of scoring in five consecutive games came to an end.

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