Mercer University
East Tenn. St,
Mercer Drops Heartbreaker to ETSU, 2-1
10/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Mercer men's soccer team couldn't hold onto an early lead, allowing East Tennessee State to score two second half goals in a 2-1 defeat on Saturday evening at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
The victory moves ETSU to the top of the A-Sun Standings at 7-2-0 (2-0-0 A-Sun) and keeps its perfect home record intact at 5-0. In defeat, Mercer lost its six-game unbeaten streak and fell to 5-2-1 (1-1-0 A-Sun).
ETSU held a 20-5 advantage in shots, but the Orange and Black had a 3-2 edge in corner kicks in the contest.
The first real scoring chance of the match came for ETSU in the 24th minute of play. Junior Aaron Schoenfeld sent in a cross that freshman David Geno struck well but right to Mercer goalkeeper Brett Petricek for the save.
Geno had another chance in the 27th minute when he fired another shot on goal from about 16 yards away that Petricek stopped for the save.
The Bears stopped the ETSU momentum when they earned a corner kick in the 36th minute of play. Senior Ian Cameron took the corner and bent it just inside the far post to give Mercer a 1-0 lead on his team leading fourth goal of the season.
The Buccaneers came out aggressive to start the second stanza and manufactured an equalizer in the opening minutes. Sophomore Alesi Osorio collected a rebound attempt right in front of goal and knocked it past a diving Petricek to tie the game at 1-1.
ETSU was not done there however, scoring another second half tally on a counter attack. Freshman Blake Woodruff ran up on a rebound off a Petricek save and slid in a shot near post to give the home team a 2-1 advantage.
That would be the final margin of victory for the Bucs as the Bears could not generate any more quality scoring opportunities for the remainder of the match.
The contest was a very physical and aggressive affair, with 35 total fouls and six yellow cards. The Orange and Black picked up four of the six yellow cards despite only owning six yellow cards to date for the entire season.
Mercer returns to the pitch on Wednesday, Oct. 6, when it travels to Alabama to take on 26th-ranked UAB. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at West Campus Field.
