In the beginning of the match at Furman University on Saturday, it looked like this game wasn’t going to end like the last one. When the Furman Paladins came to ETSU early October, the score ended 0-0.
Junior Luke Parker (Memphis, Tennessee) scored a goal in the third minute of regulation play, sending the Bucs above the Paladins early. However, almost immediately into the second half, Furman sent in a goal making the score 1-1 and that’s where it stayed.
The Furman goal came in on a rebound from the blocked corner kick.
Defense was strong for the first half until the end when Furman attempted five shots on goal, as opposed to only one before the 35th minute.
ETSU had a total of seven shots on goal for the match, just one below Furman’s eight attempts, but ETSU throughout regulation outshot Furman on their home pitch.
Senior midfielder Jeffrey George (Safety Harbor, Florida) received his second yellow card in the second half of the match and was sent off, leaving the Bucs with 10 players for the remainder of the regulation and double overtime.
Even being down a man, Furman was not able to score on the Bucs, but were also not able to capitalize on any attempts either in overtime and the score remained even.
This isn’t the first draw against Furman, or in general for the Bucs this year. The team also ended up tied with UNC-Greensboro early in the start of conference play and with Mercer right after the first draw with Furman.
With this draw, ETSU is now 4-0-4 for the SoCon and 7-2-6 overall. The Bucs will need to start securing wins in order to be in good standing position for the Southern Conference tournament.
The Bucs will head to Mercer on Tuesday, another team they have drawn with this season, looking for that win.
