ETSU bitten by Paras’ golden goal

DAVIDSON, N.C. (Sept. 15, 2012) – The ETSU men’s soccer team led Davidson, 1-0, with 10 minutes to play, but surrendered a late goal followed by Peter Paras’ golden goal in double-overtime to fall, 2-1, on Saturday night at Alumni Stadium.

Valeriy Svidersky leveled the match with 10:04 to play in regulation off a long free kick from the other side of midfield, and Davidson’s (3-2-1) Ryan Malden was issued his second yellow to be sent off with four minutes to go. It proved to work against ETSU as Paras lined up for a free kick from 20 yards in the second overtime, driving a shot off a diving Ryan Coulter’s (Dublin, Ireland) glove and into the back of the net for the win.

ETSU (4-2-0) scored 16 minutes into the match, when junior David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.) knocked in his team-leading fourth goal of the season. Senior Franck Doumbe (Silver Spring, Md.) sent a through ball on the ground to an onrushing Geno, who found the back of the net to give ETSU an early lead.

For the game, the Bucs outshot Davidson, 21-13, including a 5-0 advantage in the first overtime, but found the back of the net just once to suffer its first overtime loss since falling to Appalachian State in last year’s regular season finale.

“We need to finish our chances, and we need to be more ruthless in front of goal” ETSU head coach Scott Calabrese said. “When you create the quality of chances that we created tonight, and you come away with nothing from the game, it’s very disappointing. Every single player on our team has to have a mentality to put the ball in the back of the net, and we didn’t have that tonight.”

ETSU had been a perfect 3-0 when outshooting its opponents, and 2-0 when scoring first, but suffered its first blemish in both of those situations Saturday night.

For the first time in the first half all season, ETSU took a 1-0 lead. Sixteen minutes into the game, Doumbe took control of the ball 10 yards outside the top of the penalty area and found Geno with a through ball on the run. The Dobyns-Bennett product caught Doumbe’s pass in stride, and beat Davidson keeper Matt Pacifici with a shot from the left side to the right post for the early lead.

The Buccaneers limited Davidson’s chances the remainder of the half, taking the one-goal lead into halftime. The Wildcats had outshot the Bucs, 4-3, but made no threatening attempts at goal as Coulter stopped two harmless chances.

Davidson threatened in the beginning stages of the second half. Rotunda took two dangerous shots less than a minute apart, but had both of his chances saved by Coulter. The first came when he sent a pass in and had it deflected back to him, and the second came with an open opportunity from the top of the penalty area. Coulter made six saves on the night.

One of ETSU’s many chances came with 19 minutes to play, as junior Itode Fubara (Ogbema, Nigeria) tried to send a shot over Pacifici, but the Davidson keeper leapt and got a hand on the attempt to send it out for a corner. The ensuing set piece was cleared out.

With 10 minutes to play, Davidson capitalized on one of its chances to level the score. Coleman O’Neill sent a free kick toward the penalty area from his own side of midfield, finding Andrew Dilallo in the process. Dilallo flicked the chance on to Svidersky, who brought the Wildcats even.

Davidson’s momentum came to a sudden halt in the late stages, when Malden attempted a leaping kick on a ball that Coulter had just grabbed, earning his second yellow of the night and being sent off to give ETSU a one-man advantage the rest of the way.

With the score still tied, ETSU headed into its third consecutive overtime game. The Bucs earned their last two victories in double-overtime against then-No. 17 UAB, and last Saturday versus Radford.

ETSU dominated the first session, putting five shots at Pacifici and taking four corners, but never found the back of the net and moved on to the second extra session. With 8:35 to play, Paras lined up the free kick following a Buccaneer foul to earn the Wildcats their third victory of the season.

The Buccaneers continue their four-game road swing next Wednesday in Lexington, Ky. as the take on the Kentucky Wildcats.

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