Monarchs score three times in the second half, snap ETSU’s win streak

NORFOLK, Va. (September 9, 2011) – The No. 19 ETSU men’s soccer team played its first game as a ranked team on Friday night inside the ODU Soccer Complex, but were shutout by No. 22 Old Dominion by a score of 4-0.

“It was a disappoint result considering how we played at times,” said head coach Scott Calabrese. “It’s a result that is not fully representative of the match. At times we are just missing that final pass and ODU, being the quality team that they are, punished us when we made mistakes. Whether it was us giving the ball away carelessly or getting caught committing too many numbers forward, ODU had the quality within their team to expose our mistakes and finish.”

Playing a very highly contested first half, the Monarchs scored with 38 seconds remaining in the period and carried that momentum into their three-goal second half.

Both teams created excellent opportunities through the first half. The first ETSU (3-1-0) chance came in the 10th minute when Theo Yang (Lilburn, Ga.) found a through ball in the right side of the ODU box and fired from eight yards away, but the angle on the shot led it straight to the Monarchs’ Victor Francoz and the opportunity was squandered.

Old Dominion (2-0-0) had two near goals with the first coming very early on when Yannick Smith, the team-leader in goals, had a chance from short range in the six-yard box but the shot went skidding by the left post. ODU’s second chance came a few minutes later when Chris Harmon took one of his three shots in the half with nobody in front from inside the box, but the opportunity went high of the crossbar.

The Monarchs capitalized on their third good chance.

With less than one minute remaining in the half, Ryan Coulter’s (Dublin, Ireland) 333 minute shutout streak came to an end. As ODU brought the ball along the right side of the field, Gideon Asante raced into the top right corner of the box sent a ball through on the ground. The Monarch’s Tommy Webb caught it very close to the far post and sent a shot across Coulter’s body and into the left corner for the early lead.

“I thought it really hurt us to concede a goal with 38 seconds remaining in the first half,” said Calabrese. “We created a number of chances during that first half of play and really could have scored a goal or two.”

ODU led ETSU, 1-0, at the break, holding a slight, 8-7, edge in shots. It was a very spirited first half as three yellow cards were shown. Osorio picked up the first yellow in the 13th minute while ODU’s Skylar Hagan and Ivan Militar were shown a yellow in the 40th and 42nd minute respectively.

Seven minutes into the second half, ETSU nearly scored when Yang sent in a corner that Aaron Schoenfeld (Knoxville, Tenn.) headed at the far post, but the attempt went wide.

Old Dominion then took a, 2-0, lead when Tim Hopkinson and Yannick Smith went on a two-on-one breakaway. Simon Schorettle (Rain, Germany) was the lone ETSU defender to cover the break, but Hopkinson slid a ball past Schroettle and Smith buried the attempt past Coulter from in front.

The Monarchs scored two more times through the second half, with Militar and Asante putting two more balls into the net. A last ditch effort from Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas) nearly found the goal, but Francoz made the save to end the game at 4-0.

The Bucs were outshot 16 to 11, and took 10 corners to the Monarchs eight.

“We now have to learn from this, make sure we correct the problems we have and come out against a very good William and Mary team to put this behind us,” added Calabrese. “We need to look forward to the fact that we can rectify this and respond on Sunday and have a different performance against another ranked team.”

The ETSU men’s soccer team will look ahead to Sunday, when they play their second match of the Stihl Soccer Classic against No. 14 William and Mary at 12 p.m.

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