Almost 12-months since their last time on the field, the ETSU men’s soccer program struggled to advance the ball in a loss to Xavier during the season opener Feb. 5. The Xavier Musketeers controlled much of the game, limiting the Bucs to only three shots.
The Bucs and Musketeers took to Summers-Taylor Stadium on a chilly day. The dampened field partnered with high winds impacted both sides, causing many corner kicks to be off the mark.
A strong defensive showing by the Musketeers prevented the Bucs from finding a shot for the first 32 minutes of the game. ETSU’s Aidan O’Brien (Asheville, North Carolina) and Jared Leheta (Montreal, Canada) both had good looks and narrowly missed on their shot attempts. Both teams went scoreless in the first half.
In the 42nd minute, Buccaneer midfielder Gabriel Ramos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) went down with a significant wrist injury that caused a stoppage in play and required help off of the pitch. Ramos, a transfer student from Akron, was making his anticipated debut for the Bucs.
The second half was controlled by Xavier on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Xavier’s offensive aggression paid off.
In a moment of confusion, ETSU’s Josh Salinas (Stafford, Virginia) was dragged down and a flag was raised briefly before being waived off by another referee to resume play. Xavier never slowed down during this scuffle, and Karsen Henderlong would capitalize off of an assist by Justus Kauppinen, giving the Musketeers a goal.
Catching the Bucs out of position, Henderlong would score again, this time assisted by Bryce Curran, making this his first multi-goal game of his career.
The Bucs’ 2019 Southern Conference goalkeeper of the year, Josh Perryman (Sheffield, England), continued to show his talents, saving four of six shots on goal.
The Bucs look to even their record in Nashville when they face-off against the Lipscomb Bisons on Feb. 13, with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m.
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