Liberty Men’s Soccer loses closely contested battle against Eastern Tennessee State

 

  • Flames unable to respond to East Tennessee State’s lone goal in 37th minute of Saturday game.
  • Second-half momentum not enough for the Flames as they fall 3-2-1.

In a tight defensive battle, Liberty (3-2-1) fell to East Tennessee State (3-1-2) 1-0 Saturday afternoon.

Liberty goalie James Knoebel made five saves on 10 shots in the first half, while the defense buckled down in the second half, allowing only two shots, none of which were on goal.

ETSU’s lone goal came off of a corner kick in the 37th minute.

“We had to clear those balls out better,” Head Coach Jeff Alder said. “We didn’t clear the balls out properly and we gave them two corners in a row and they wound up scoring on the second corner.”

ETSU played strong defensively the whole game, making it difficult for the Flames to get any shots on goal. An early steal by midfielder Pepe Segarra led to one of the Flames’ only chances of the day, but ETSU was able to maintain the threat.

“They broke up a lot of plays,” Alder said.

Alder also mentioned how ETSU double-teamed midfielder Kevin Mendoza and forward Tresor Mbuyu, which Liberty anticipated, but it still made it more difficult going forward.

Liberty’s defense regained some life after Knoebel made consecutive saves in the 18th and 24th minutes.

“Both teams were competing like crazy and getting after each other,” Alder said.

Liberty seemed to gain momentum in the second half, as their defense persistently blocked ETSU’s attempts at goal. The Flames were able to create a few chances from their efforts on defense, but ultimately none were converted into a game-tying effort.

“It was disappointing because we created a good chance,” Alder said, referring to a goal getting called back on an offsides late in the second half.

After the goal was called back, it seemed to deplete the team and the crowd some, lessening the momentum. The game turned into a stalemate as neither team could get anything going towards the end of second half.

“I don’t think we played well in the first half … But I thought we had a real good second half,” Alder said.

The Flames return to action at Osborne Stadium Saturday, Sept.23, at 7 p.m. against Wofford University (0-6-0).

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