Thursday, November 11, 2010

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Lipscomb and ETSU appeared destined for a penalty kick finish before the Buccaneers’ Theo Yang deposited the game-winning goal with 7.2 seconds remaining in the second overtime, lifting the top-seeded Buccaneers past the fourth-seeded Bisons, 1-0.

Yang’s goal, his second of the season, capped an action-packed semifinal, despite the lack of scoring, ETSU (14-5-0) put consistent pressure on the Lipscomb (10-9-0) defense, firing off 25 shots as compared to only 11for the Bisons. Aaron Schoenfeld out-shot Lipscomb by himself as the All-Atlantic Sun forward took 12 shots, five on net. The Bisons only put four shots on ETSU goalkeeper Ronnie Hreha, while Lipscomb goalkeeper Brent McGee made eight saves, many of the acrobatic nature.

The contest represented the first overtime game in A-Sun Championship play since a 2008 semifinal between Lipscomb and Jacksonville went the full two overtimes and ended in a shootout. Yang registered only the second overtime goal in the last four A-Sun Championships and the first since Belmont’s Wade Wonderlin converted a penalty kick in the 106th minute against Stetson in a 2008 first-round game. Both semifinal matches (Stetson defeated Jacksonville, 1-0, earlier Thursday) ended as one-goal contests. The conference had seen two one-goal semifinal games in a year only once since 2001. In 2004, UCF beat Georgia State, 2-1, in overtime and Mercer advanced past FAU in penalty kicks.

ETSU becomes the first A-Sun school from the state of Tennessee to make the A-Sun title game. The Buccaneers become only the fifth host to make the title game in the last 12 A-Sun Championships. The last three hosts to play for the title have all lost. Campbell lost to Jacksonville in 2008; Gardner-Webb defeated Stetson in 2006 and UCF beat Mercer in 2004. Mercer, in 2001, is the last school to win the A-Sun Men’s Soccer Championship in front of the home crowd.

The Buccaneers and Hatters meet for the second time in as many A-Sun Championships at 3 p.m. on Saturday from Summers-Taylor Stadium. Stetson topped ETSU in semifinals last year and are 4-0 against the Buccaneers since ETSU started its program in 2008.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts five of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University