Men's Soccer Drops Non-Conference Contest at ETSU
JOHNSON CITY, TENN. - The Gardner-Webb University men's soccer team resumed non-conference play on Tuesday night at ETSU, losing 3-1 on the road to the side from the Southern Conference
The Runnin' Bulldogs and Buccaneers battled early on Tuesday night in Johnson City, but it would be the home team snatching the lead inside half an hour played. After the initial shot took a deflection, another ETSU attacker followed up with a rebound, putting Gardner-Webb in a 1-nil hole by the 25th minute.
By the 37th minute, Gardner-Webb was forced to stare at a 2-nil deficit. A barrage of shots from the home side in the minutes following the first goal led to another in quick order and after a couple of late Runnin' Bulldogs chances went missing, the Red and Black entered halftime two behind.
The second half began with a barrage from the 'Dawgs, with three shots on target and two offside calls against GWU in the opening ten minutes. Gardner-Webb made those chances count in the 57th minute, where junior midfielder Giampaolo Nardi pulled back a goal. Sophomore defender Max Fisher and senior midfielder Caio Hughes set up the strike from Nardi, who made the score 2-1 with his first of the season and first for the 'Dawgs since 2022, still with over a half hour of time remaining.
GWU continued to push for an equalizer from there, seeing its best passage of play over the next 15 minutes. Hughes looked bright again as he smashed a shot off the woodwork in the 60th minute, just ahead of a pair of chances for the Runnin' Bulldogs that were off target. Between the 72nd and 76th minutes, the Red and Black won two corners and forced three saves out of the ETSU goalkeeper, including another from Hughes and two from junior forward Elias Khodri, but were once again denied a level score.
Largely against the run of play in the 79th minute, ETSU added to its lead to go ahead 3-1. From there, Gardner-Webb was unable to two late goals back, coming up short away from home.
The Runnin' Bulldogs finished the contest with a 14-7 edge in total shots, including a 12-1 mark after halftime.
Next up, GWU resumes Big South Conference play at Longwood, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 19th
