After a 1-1 tie exhibition against Wake Forest last week, men’s soccer suited up again to take on King University on Tuesday.
Looking at the lineup at the start of the match, it very much resembled the fall season line-up with Cameron Woodfin (Old Hickory, Tenn.), usually a sub, up top, Chase Clack (Memphis, Tenn.) at defense and Jonny Sutherland (Chester, UK) in goal.
The majority of play was held within the Bucs attacking third.
For both the first and second half, the Bucs dominated both on the attack as well as defensively.
The single goal of the match came early in the second half by sophomore Fletcher Ekern (Knoxville, Tenn.) on an assist coming up-field.
Despite the four shots on goal in the first half, this goal from Ekern put the Bucs up 1-0 where the score remained for the rest of play.
“We created a ton of chances we just didn’t score as many as I would have liked,” said Head Coach Bo Oshoniyi. “But we just have to be a little more clinical in front of goal.”
Defensively, when the ball was turned over, ETSU kept the pressure on and were easily able to recover the lost pass.
Into the second half came more subs off the bench. Coach Oshoniyi commented that these exhibitions are how the team is going to prepare to see where each player is going to fit come the fall.
Not only looking at who but where the player is going to be on the field will be most beneficial to the team.
“We’re trying to get everybody minutes so they can continue to grow as players,” he said.
While the Bucs don’t have many games in the spring, each is important in growing for the upcoming fall season.
“Last year we had a good season because of our mentality, it’s real easy to get up for Wake Forest and Virginia Tech,” said Coach Oshoniyi. “But playing against King, a game you should win, you have to make sure you still have the right mentality.”
The Bucs will be back on the field for their annual Alumni Game on Saturday and against real opponent Carson-Newman the following Thursday inside Summers-Taylor Stadium.
