#MSOC Falls to ETSU in A-Sun Finals

Sunday, November 17

Ft. Myers, Fla.

1:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

8-7-3

East Tennessee State

10-5-4

North Florida

ETSU

11/17/2013 3:04:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Andrew Sapin, North Florida Athletics

FT. MYERS, Fla. – The University of North Florida men's soccer team's season came to a close Sunday afternoon in a hard fought 3-1 loss to ETSU final match of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.

"I'm very proud of our guys and the run we made," said head coach Derek Marinatos. "We gave it our all but unfortunately we didn't come up with the result we wanted."

This marked the first time the Ospreys and the Buccaneers have met in the A-Sun Championship and UNF's first-ever A-Sun Championship Final appearance.

Nate Hodges opened up the match with a 30-yard crack at the goal after the Ospreys were unable to clear the ball, giving ETSU the 1-0 lead in the 28th minute. Hodges, The A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year, led the Bucs back line as they limited the Ospreys to just seven shots in the match.

ETSU's Dante Brangman raced out of the gates quickly in the second half recording his first goal of the season just 31 seconds into the period as Emmanuel Wilson crossed the ball on the ground from the left wing and found Brangman for the one-time finish pusing ETSU to a 2-0 lead.

The Buccaneers turned up the pace in the second half earning an 11-5 shot advantage in the final period.

In the 81st minute, Jean Rivaroli lined up to take a free kick and made a short pass to Simen Solstad who was lined up next to him. Solstad would blast his shot past the diving A-Sun Goalkeeper of the Year Ryan Coulter to help spark a late comeback. However, the Buccaneers would respond minutes later as Wilson slipped an insurance goal into the net for the final margin.

Goalkeeper Brad Sienkiewicz tallied three saves in his final match for the Ospreys, while ETSU's defense held the Osprey to only one shot on goal. The Ospreys held a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Today's four combined goals marks the most in an A-Sun Championship match since the 2008 championship contest.

ETSU's Hodges, was named the A-Sun Championship Most Valuable Player with his performance offensively and defensively for the Buccaneers.

"Nobody thought we would get this far except for us," said Marinatos. "Hopefully we will be back here for a long time to come."

The Ospreys finished the season with an 8-7-3 record and advanced to the A-Sun Conference Tournament finals for the first time in school history. Pedro Carneiro and Solstad were named to the Atlantic Sun All-Tournament Team.

Atlantic Sun All-Tournament Team
Nate Hodges, ETSU
Ryan Coulter, ETSU
Itode Fubara, ETSU
David Geno, ETSU
William Nordenstrom, ETSU
Emmanuel Wilson, ETSU
Luke Gearin, Lipscomb
David Rovledo, FGCU
Henry Penagos, FGCU
Pedro Carneiro, North Florida
Simen Solstad, North Florida