After University of North Florida forward Akil DeFreitas took his fourth shot of Thursday afternoon’s game, ETSU goalkeeper James Holt jumped to deflect it, recording his sixth save of the game.
The deflection made its way back to DeFreitas, who knocked in the game-winning goal with 4:47 left to play in the second overtime.
“The goal was a bit unlucky,” said ETSU coach Scott Calabrese. “I don’t even know if he (Holt) was aware that the ball hit off him.”
The Buccaneers lost their first conference game to the UNF Ospreys by a final score of 2-1 (1-1, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0). Despite the loss, coach Calabrese seemed impressed with the effort he saw from his team.
“We certainly fought hard,” Calabrese said. “They worked very hard, but ultimately, when we put our chances away early on, we’re going to put ourselves in this position.”
Calabrese referred to the beginning of the game, where the Buccaneers’ intensity seemed to catch the Ospreys by surprise. UNF coach Ray Bunch was surprised by the effort he saw from ETSU.
“I think that ETSU, for a first-year program, is unbelievably good,” Bunch said. “I think we underestimated them a little bit in the first half.”
ETSU spent most of their time in the first half on UNF’s side of the field, as they relentlessly pushed the attack and maintained a constant flow on offense. Their work paid off when sophomore mid-fielder Andrew Brown managed to find Russell Thompson on a cross field pass that led to Thompson’s first goal of the season.
“It was good to see us come out with the right attitude and get on top of them early,” Calabrese said.
After the quick score, the Ospreys gradually regained their composure, but still found it difficult to threaten the Buccaneers’ goal. With 16:40 left in the first half (17:20 after the Bucs’ goal), DeFreitas split defenders to score what would be his first goal of the afternoon.
DeFreitas would prove to be the most reliable offensive option for the Ospreys, as he routinely managed to speed by defenders and threaten the Bucs’ goal.
“DeFreitas is very fast, very dangerous,” Calabrese said. “He can use his pace. He was able to get beyond us.”
Calabrese credits DeFreitas’ goal with changing the tide of the game.
“When they scored that goal,” Calabrese said, “that changed things a little bit. It gave them a little bit of momentum, and they carried that into halftime.”
Bunch concurred, saying, “We were kind of fortunate to be in the game at halftime. Afterward, we seemed to wake up and give them the respect that they deserve.”
The Ospreys did seem to take the second half more seriously. They were much more aggressive and took four more shots on the goal than they had in the first half.
The Buccaneers, on the other hand, looked fatigued and seemed to lack the same intensity with which they had started the game.
Things got worse for the Buccaneers when mid-fielder David Haba went down with an injury to his left ankle with 36:43 left to play in the half. Though he did not return, Haba led the Bucs in shot attempts (5) and shots on the goal (4).
Although the Ospreys appeared to have momentum, ETSU managed to match their efforts to keep the second half scoreless. Much the same happened in the first overtime, as the UNF continued their offensive aggression only to fall short. The Buccaneers suffered from several key miscues to prevent them from responding to the UNF attack.
At the beginning of the second overtime, the Bucs rediscovered their intensity, and managed to stay on UNF’s side of the field for most of the 5:13 that was played.
After UNF goalkeeper Tony Restino’s ninth and final save, however, UNF worked the ball back to DeFreitas, who scored the game-winning goal off Holt’s deflection.
Despite his team’s loss, Calabrese was pleased to see how his team responded to their first conference opponent.
“It was disappointing to lose late in the game,” Calabrese said. “But for us to come out and probably have an equal share of the play, it shows that we’re in a good spot.”
Bunch agreed that ETSU soccer is in a good spot in the Atlantic Sun.
“They’re going to edge a lot of teams,” Bunch said. “With a little bit more experience, ETSU would have punished us a little bit more.”
The UNF matchup was the first of a nine-game stretch of conference opponents for ETSU. Their next match will be at Lipscomb University Friday at 8 p.m.

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