Free Kicks - Men's Edition

The opening week of the 2010 men’s soccer season was quite the beginning to a new season as Stetson kicked off with a 10-0 blowout of Johnson & Wales, while FGCU followed with a 2-1 victory at No. 13 South Florida that ended the Bulls’ 30-match home unbeaten streak. Then ETSU capped the week with a 1-0 road win against two-time National Champion, Clemson. Remember, if you attend a match this week, send us a photo of you and your friends … we’ll get it posted here and on our Facebook page!

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Eagles Obtain National Recognition
Riding the wave of their victory over South Florida, FGCU appeared in national polls as the Eagles are ranked 5th in the NSCAA South Region and 33rd in the NSCAA National Poll. Deion Jones, who scored the game-winner against No. 13 USF, was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s National Team of the Week for his two goals and assist on the week.

Darko Finishes Two Overtime Games
Jacksonville’s Darko Karamatic, the A-Sun Player of the Week for the opening weekend, justified his award by scoring his second overtime game-winner in a 2-1 victory against Georgia Southern on Tuesday night. Karamatic, a junior, lifted the Dolphins to a 2-1 overtime victory over Florida Atlantic on the previous Friday and finished the opening week with three goals in three games.

Bucs Trump Tigers on the Road
ETSU’s senior defender, Guilherme Reis, stepped to the penalty mark in the 116th minute of the game against Clemson and gave the Bucs a 1-0 double-overtime victory. The goal, along with his efforts earlier in the week against Furman, earned Reis the Defensive A-Sun Player of the Week honors. Reis and the rest of Bucs travel to Evansville, Ind., to face Bradley and Evansville this weekend.

Timo Foerster -- Assisting Machine
Through three games on the season, USC Upstate’s junior midfielder has assisted on four of the Spartans five goals, which leads the A-Sun. Last season, Foerster totaled five assists for the Spartans, which topped his team and ranked fourth in the A-Sun.

Stout Defenses in A-Sun
Three teams in the A-Sun (ETSU, Campbell and Stetson) have a sub-1.00 GAA through the first week of play in the 2010 season. Stetson, which has played one game, leads the A-Sun after posting a shutout in their lone game, while the Bucs and Camels are allowing 0.44 and 0.58 GAA, respectively.

What’s Ahead
Eight teams take the field on Friday, including UNF opening the season against Memphis, while Belmont welcomes Lipscomb, Gardner-Webb and Centenary for the Belmont Invitational.

Quoting the Coach
“That was a great college soccer game,” said ETSU head coach Scott Calabrese. “Being at Clemson, which is a big school with a great atmosphere and a historic program. I can’t be more proud of the way our team came out and competed. Clemson is a well-coached team that is very organized. I think we showed tremendous mental strength. We had a goal taken away and had a lot of chances that didn’t fall for us, but we continued to press the issue.”

“I felt like for the first time this was a team that truly believed throughout the game that we were going to win,” Calabrese said. “That is a mentality that I want to see continue.”