The ETSU women’s soccer team played two Southern Conference games last weekend and they would need more than 90 minutes in each of them to decide an outcome.
The Bucs traveled to Georgia Southern on Friday in search of their first SoCon win of the season. ETSU fell short in overtime 2-1.
The team came out strong, but could not keep up their intensity for a full 90 minutes.
“We came out ready to go, but we lost focus and didn’t stick to our game plan,” said ETSU head coach Heather Henson.
The Bucs got on the scoreboard first about 10 minutes after the opening whistle with a goal from sophomore Rebecca Murray.
Murray’s third goal of the season came on a pass from Erin Ashton. The sophomore then dribbled the ball 20 feet and fired a shot into the left corner of the net to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead.
Both offenses then went dormant for the next 73 minutes of the contest, and things were looking good for ETSU until the Eagles scored the tie with less than six minutes to play to force overtime. Colleen Znosko scored the goal from 30 yards out.
The overtime period was back and forth, but Georgia Southern’s goal with 1:24 to play in the period would give the Eagles the victory.
ETSU only had one day to prepare for Western Carolina (2-6-3, 0-1-3) and the team made the most of it.
Coach Henson was not very impressed with some of the things she saw in the game at Georgia Southern and she was convinced that the team needed a good day of practice.
” Saturday’s training session proved to be key in our game against Western (Carolina), it really helped us refocus as a team,” Henson said.
The team would fall behind in the first half 1-0 on a goal from Western Carolina’s Natalie Turgeon, but Henson was pleased with the way her team kept after it and did not lose focus.
“We had high pressure on the ball, we had more corner kicks, and we had more attacking opportunities. I could really see the difference from Friday’s game,”Henson said.
ETSU evened the score with a goal from freshman Aubree Snyder in the 67th minute of the second half. Snyder’s header was the icing on the cake after a feed from sophomore Alexandra Schwark.
Snyder’s goal would force ETSU’s fourth overtime of the season in which the team is 1-1-2.
The game might have ended in a tie, but the Bucs were robbed of two goals late in the game that would have given them the win.
One came at the end of regulation and the other goal that was called off came with less than a minute left in the second overtime.
The team will play College of Charleston Thursday in Charleston and the Cougars are always a tough test.
“We have the ability and the talent to beat Charleston if we stick to our game plan,” Henson said.
The ETSU soccer team will return home on Sunday, Oct. 10, to face UT-Chattanooga at 2 p.m.

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