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BOONE, N.C. — After playing in only one of two matches due to adverse whether in Ohio, Appalachian State University men's soccer heads into Week Two to play at East Tennessee State on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. and at Wake Forest on Tuesday, Sept. 6 against Wake Forest at 7 p.m.
The Mountaineers' (0-1) matchup with Wake Forest will be broadcasted live on ACC Network Extra, which can be streamed live on WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
Beating the Bucs
The former Southern Conference foe ETSU Buccaneers (1-1) looking to have another strong year after going 8-7-4 (4-4-2 SoCon) last season. The Bucs fell 5-1 to High Point last week before downing George Mason 4-2 on Wednesday.
ETSU is shaping up to be another SoCon power in soccer this year, currently leading the SoCon in points (14) and goals (five), are second in assists (four) and third in shots (27) in the league. Last season the Bucs fell just shy of a conference championship losing 1-0 to Furman in the final match.
Individually for the Bucs, the team strikes by committee. Scoring so far this season is John Lucchesi, Javier Alberto, Cameron Woodfin, Joao Ramalho, and Cameron Schneider with one goal each. Ramalho also leads the SoCon in shots right now with eight.
The Mountaineers have faced ETSU nine times, owning a 8-1-0 record against them. The last matchup came in 2015 when Appalachian won 2-1.
Downing the Demon Deacs
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are off to a 2-1 start this season, having played Saint Louis (L, 1-0) and Cal Poly (W, 2-1) in Week One. The Deacs are looking to follow up their incredible 17-3-2 year, going 6-0-2 in the ACC. Wake Forest lost to Notre Dame 1-0 in the ACC semifinals before making it to the third round of the NCAA tournament where they lost to Stanford in overtime, 2-1.
Individually, the Deacs are led by Ema Twumasi and Steven Echevarria, who each have a goal this season. Last year, Jack Harrison and Jon Barkeo led the team in goals, scoring eight each, while Harrison also had 11 assists. With Harrison gone, Barkeo will need to take a larger role on the attack to compensate.
This is the first meeting between App State and Wake Forest since 2012 when the Mountaineers lost 4-0. All time, the two teams have faced off 23 times with the Deacs' owning a 20-3 record.
Notes
Senior forward Stephan Chapman (Greensboro, N.C./Northwest Guilford) was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team after being named first-team all-conference at the end of last season ... the Mountaineers were picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll ... 15 Mountaineers hail from Appalachian's home state of North Carolina, while five come from outside the U.S. (Jeremy Tshongo - Western Australia; Raheem Somersall - Basseterre, St. Kitts; Jordan Melia - Manchester, England; Thibaut Arpinon - Nimes, France; Felix Kollmannthaler - Frankfurt, Germany) ... App State welcomes 13 newcomers this season, with eight of them being freshmen and the other five being transfers ... head coach Jason O'Keefe is entering his first season at the helm of the program ... O'Keefe previously was an assistant coach at North Carolina ... the Mountaineers are opening the season with a five-match road trip to open up the 2016 season before returning for their home opener against USC Upstate on Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
