Coming off a dominant 4-0 win over Wofford at home, the ETSU women’s soccer team hosted their final regular season SoCon match against Furman University Paladins on Sunday. The Bucs finished with a 2-0 win and a few records broken.
It was their last conference match, but the team’s first win over Furman in the history of the program. It was no shock the win came at home, with the Bucs breaking the world record for shutouts at home and shutouts in a season in this match.
“We’ve really turned it [Summers-Taylor Stadium] into a fortress,” said Head Coach Adam Sayers. “We’ve conceded just one goal here all season.”
Coach Sayers also commented on the motivation the players have at home because they simply love to play on that pitch.
The Bucs knew this game was going to be difficult heading in, with Furman being a very strong team and a lot on the line to get the best SoCon Tournament seed.
“The start to the game was going to be absolutely key,” said Coach Sayers. “We knew we had to start very strongly and if we could get the first goal it would put us in a great positon.”
The team did just that, with sophomore Irina Brutsch (Zurich, Switzerland) scored her fourth career goal off a faked free kick in the 5th minute of play.
The rest of the match was back and forth with solid defensive effort on both sides, until freshman Elena Pisani (Milano, Italy) scored the final goal in the 76th minute of play off an assist from Emily McKerlie (Dumfries, Scotland). This was Pisani’s second career goal.
Furman did not go down easily, and it was no small feat for goalkeeper Lee Ann Cutshall (Johnson City, Tenn.) to earn only her third career shutout. Cutshall had six saves, and ETSU only out-shot the Paladins 15-14.
The Bucs finish with a 6-2-1 record in regular season play, and earn the No. 2 seed in the tournament set to start for them on Saturday, Oct. 29 against either Western Carolina or Wofford. The Bucs won at both prior meetings with these teams in the 2016 season.
Winning this game and clinching the No. 2 seed has put the Bucs in great position to be successful in the tournament. The Bucs will play their quarterfinal match in Summers-Taylor Stadium with no intentions to stop adding onto their shutout record.
