Bucs Whip Camels to Open Conference Play

On a rain-soaked pitch on a Thursday night in (the) Johnson City, Buccaneers FC turned in a performance that would have Ray Hudson raving for years to come about Scott Calabrese's genius with a string of similes and metaphors I couldn't begin to fathom (but they would naturally involve improperly dressed bullfighters).

Calabrese's crew absolutely dominated the Camels to the tune of a 4-0 result at Summers-Taylor tonight in what is pretty easily their best performance of the season. Coach cited the field conditions as part of the result, and I would agree, but ETSU were very persistent on the attack, constantly breaking through the defense. They played the ball along the ground very well (the Fubara goal is a prime example) and kept Campbell chasing. The defense held remarkably well, and Hreha continues to get better every time I see him play. Ronnie Westbrook had a really good game, certainly one of his better performances in the campaign. Reis was all over the field tonight making things happen. Woodruff and Fubara were both excellent, and Osorio had a decent game.

The Bucs got off to a more belated start on the scoreboard than their last two games, but Gui Reis found a seam in the wall and bounced a free kick past Ryan Amons to open the scoring at 28:37. He also had a nice little celebration after the goal, but he would be put to shame by his roommate Itode Fubara in this respect.

In the 66th minute, Fuby was on the front end of some great buildup by Geno and Pugh at the top of the box and had an easy finish 1v1 against Amons. He then proceeded to do a series of back-flips to the ETSU bench, which was spur of the moment and a real treat to watch.

The Bucs would add a pair of tallies in the last ten minutes, when David Haba tallied his second of the year in the 84th and Geno put the cherry on top with 44 seconds left.

To be frank, I thought Campbell would give a better showing. Their defense looked good in stretches but broke down under continued pressure, and their forwards looked lost on the slick surface. By the time they got the hang of things, the Bucs already had the lead and all the momentum. They seemed to improve and put on some real pressure for an equalizer in the start of the half, but when Fubara scored, it really seemed to suck the fight out of the Camels.

Tonight was the first time the Buccaneers have ever beaten the Camels, and now they'll have a chance to get their first win against another opponent on Saturday: the Mercer Bears. Sure, the Bears have never finished with a winning record under Ruzzo, but they're 6-1-1 through non-conference play and have also scored 14 goals through those first eight contests (including a 3-0 thumping of Winthrop at Winthrop), so this is going to be a real test for the defense. Saturday is supposed to be clear with a high of 70...

... so maybe the should turn on the sprinklers beforehand?