Johnson City, TENN. – The No. 3 Wofford men's soccer team fell in its SoCon Tournament semifinal match against the No. 2 ETSU Buccaneers in Johnson City Sunday afternoon in penalty kicks 5-3. Heroics from senior Hugo Moldin brought Wofford to overtime, but the Terriers came up short in the end.
The game started off slow with neither team taking a shot until the 18th minute. In the 38th minute, a Buccaneer attacker broke away and before the Wofford defense could catch up, he took a shot that would get by the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Leo Ledin. The goal put ETSU up 1-0, and the Buccaneers would carry that lead into the second half.
The second frame was dominated by the Terriers desperately trying to find the equalizer as the Buccaneers went on the defensive to maintain their lead. Wofford would take nine shots compared to the ETSU one in the half. Wofford's chance came in the 73rd minute, as the Terriers were awarded a penalty kick by an ETSU handball in the box. Stewart Patnaud stepped up to the spot and took a shot to the bottom left corner of the goal. However, the ETSU goalkeeper guessed correctly, saving the shot and ending Wofford's opportunity.
In the 87th minute, Wofford's time was running out, but the Terriers were awarded a corner kick. The set-piece was taken by fifth-year senior Thaddeus Dennis, and he put the ball right on a surging Hugo Moldin's head who put it in the back of the net for a late game equalizer. This is Moldin's first goal since 2022 as he has played in 24 games without scoring until this point. With this goal, Wofford ran out the rest of the clock to put the game into overtime.
In overtime, the Terriers rode the momentum of their goal and took five shots in both overtime periods without an ETSU shot. The most dangerous opportunity Wofford had was in the 97th minute, when a pass from Jakob Andersson found Paul Jones who took a perfect shot from the top of the box heading to the upper right corner of the goal. Only a perfect save from the ETSU goalkeeper kept the game from ending and would drag the Buccaneers into penalty kicks.
In penalty kicks, Wofford and ETSU were evenly matched after three kicks, going three for three with their opportunities. Wofford's fourth kick barely missed high, and ETSU would convert of their final two opportunities to close out the Terrier's season.
Wofford outshot ETSU 18 to five with the Terriers having six shots on goal compared to ETSU's two in this match. Wofford took nine corners in the game, converting on one with ETSU only taking six. Five yellow cards were given out with 27 combined fouls in the match with 17 of those fouls in the second half. The Terriers will return to action next year for the 2025 season.
