ETSU 3, VMI 0
LEXINGTON, Va. – The ETSU Bucs got back into the win column after pitching a 3-0 shutout on Saturday against VMI. Fletcher Ekern played a part in all three goals, as he scored twice and assisted on one.
The Bucs move to 5-5-2 overall and 2-3-1 in conference play, and the Keydets fall to 0-14 overall and 0-6 in conference.
The first goal came in the 16th minute by Joao Ramalho. ETSU was working up the right side on the attack when Ekern knocked the ball to Ramalho in front of the goal. Ramalho beat the goalie and netted the easy goal to take the 1-0 lead.
ETSU came out firing in the second half as Ekern scored the second goal of the game in the lower right corner. Ben Holt took a cross from the right side of the field, and Ekern corralled the ball and took the first shot of the second half in the 49th minute. His ball snuck past the VMI goalie to move the lead to 2-0.
Ekern did not stop there. Five minutes later, Christian Ilia worked up the left side of the field and passed the ball to James Smith in front of the net. Smith passed it off to Ekern, who put the ball in the middle of the goal to advance the score to 3-0 in the Bucs’ favor.
Ekern grabbed the team scoring lead with six goals and 14 points. Smith moves to second on the team with 12 points and leads the team in assists with four.
ETSU returns home for their second-to-last home game of the season. The Bucs will square off against the Wofford Terriers at Summers-Taylor Stadium on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
VMI returns to the pitch Tuesday with a road match at Furman. Kickoff with the Paladins is slated for a 7 p.m. start in Greenville, South Carolina.
Wofford 1, Mercer 1 (2OT)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men’s soccer team rallied late to tie its match Saturday night at Snyder Field against Mercer, eventually playing the Bears to a 1-1 draw.
Midfielder Nestor Jaramillo provided Wofford (8-3-2, 3-2-2 SoCon) with the heroics in the final minute of regulation. With 29 seconds left, Jaramillo ripped a shot from about 25 yards out on the right side of the field. The ball deflected off a Mercer defender and into the net for the game-tying goal.
Jaramillo’s goal was the fifth of the season for him and the 21st goal of his career, one away from tying former Terrier Alex Hutchins for the most goals in Wofford’s Division I era.
Mercer (8-5-1, 3-2-2) scored a first-half goal in the 42nd minute to give the Bears a 1-0 halftime lead. Midfielder Jordan Duru put the ball past Terrier goalkeeper Garrett Closs for his third goal of the season. Forward Nickolas Tripodi fed Duru the ball on the left side of the field, earning an assist on Duru’s goal.
The Terriers played the final 10 minutes of regulation and both overtime periods down a man after midfielder Jonathan Dean was given a red card for a foul in the box.
Neither team had an opportunity to score in the first overtime period, but each team took its shots in the second overtime. Wofford had three opportunities to score, while Mercer had two in the last period, but the two teams could not convert on their chances.
Overall for the match, the Terriers outshot Mercer 16-8, holding the Bears to no shot attempts in the second half and first overtime. Mercer, however, took four corners compared to Wofford’s three attempts.
The tie prevented Wofford from suffering a two-game losing streak at home, which has not happened since the 2012 season. Mercer holds the all-time series advantage at 5-2-1 against the Terriers.
The two teams currently sit in a tie for third place in the Southern Conference standings, with the Terriers having four games left in the regular season.
Wofford next plays Tuesday when the team travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to take on ETSU at 7 p.m.
Mercer returns to action Tuesday when it hosts UNCG at 7 p.m.
Furman 0, UNCG 0 (2OT)
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior Sven Lissek recorded three saves and Furman’s defense held a potent UNCG offense in check for the second time this season to earn a scoreless draw and maintain its hold on first place on Saturday night.
With Furman’s (6-4-2, 4-1-1 SoCon) 0-0 draw at UNCG (3-1-2 SoCon) and Mercer’s (3-1-2 SoCon) 1-1 draw at Wofford (3-1-2 SoCon), the Paladins enter the final four matches of SoCon play with a two-point lead over the Spartans and three points clear of the Bears and Terriers, who are all tied for third place in the league standings.
Furman came out of the gates on the attack and came close to taking the lead several times in the opening 45 minutes, including a pair of headers by Dalton Souder off of set pieces that forced UNCG goalkeeper Jon Milligan into saves.
After Furman posted a 9-4 edge in shots in the first half, UNCG went on the attack early in the second period. Lissek made the key save of the match in the 51st minute when Rouven Wahlfeldt found space at the top of the 6-yard box, but had his point-blank effort batted away from danger by the Sewau, Germany, native.
Marco Ortiz, Lewis Hawke and Eli Pinner each recorded shots on goal over the final 30 minutes of regulation before the match went to overtime in a 0-0 deadlock. Jacques Francois had an open shot at the Furman net in the opening minute of overtime, but Lissek denied the forward and survived back-to-back corner kicks to help the Paladins earn the draw.
Lissek recorded his fifth clean sheet in Furman’s last six matches, while Milligan registered eight saves for the Spartans. The Paladins finished with a 16-11 edge in shot attempts and 8-3 advantage in shots on goal.
Furman returns to Stone Stadium to host VMI on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before entertaining ETSU in “The Quinn Game” for Down Syndrome Awareness on Friday night.
UNCG returns to action Tuesday at Mercer at 7 p.m.