JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – ETSU men’s soccer remains winless against Mercer in the SoCon Tournament (0-1-4), as the Bears advanced with a 1-1 (4-3 PK) victory on Sunday afternoon.
The home crowd at Summers-Taylor Stadium came alive in the 30th minute, when Gabriel Ramos’ free kick found the head of Lucas Lightner for the first tally of the match.
However, the ETSU offense slowed for the remainder of regulation, as the Bears kept pressing. In the 80th minute, a corner kick bounced to Sekou Agard, who nudged it into the goal with his head, leveling the match, 1-1.
After two scoreless periods of extra time, the match extended into penalty kicks.
Gabriel Ramos rung the opening shot off the crossbar, as the Bears quickly grabbed the upper hand in the shootout. However, a miss from Mercer’s Natnael McDonald and a save from ETSU keeper Cole Hunter kept the Bucs in the match.
On the Blue and Gold’s sixth attempt, Izzy Garcia was denied by Bears’ keeper Trevor McMullen. Mercer’s Grant Hampton stepped to the spot moments later, slotting the ball into the upper-right corner, to give the visitors the victory – 4-3 on penalty kicks.
Mercer out-shot ETSU 16-8, and placed nine shots on goal to the Bucs’ three.
Hunter was crucial in net for the Johnson City squad, making eight saves in regulation and another in the shootout.
The top-seeded Bucs finish the season with a record of 9-5-3.
