Coach Heather Henson took a very optimistic approach to playing the best team in the Atlantic Sun, and the result was an extremely well-played game by the Buccaneers.
Although they were defeated by Florida Atlantic on Sunday afternoon, 1-0, the defensive members of the team seemed to work very well together as the postseason tournament draws near.
“Honestly, that’s the style of play we’re used to playing against,” Henson said. “The defense is used to defending that system, and we denied many shots because of it.”
It was a tough game for the ETSU offense, which achieved only one shot on goal for the entire contest.
Florida Atlantic seemed to dominate the attacking aspect of the game with 21 shots, nine on goal.
Only letting one slip by her, freshman goalie Erin Bilyeu came up with eight acrobatic saves.
“We were in this game to have fun, since we’re already in the conference tournament,” Bilyeu said. “Coach Henson told us in the locker room to go all out during the whole game, and that’s what we did. [FAU] played good soccer, the way we like to play.”
In contrast to many games past, ETSU was allotted only one corner kick by the FAU defense.
Crossed by Ashley Craig, the ball got near many white ETSU jerseys in the box, but the attempt was futile.
FAU received eight corner kick opportunities, all stopped by the ETSU defense.
“We prepared for FAU with a lot of practice, and we knew ahead of time what to expect,” defender Trista Haupt said. “That was worth it because we weren’t frantic about their style, and we didn’t kick it around too much.
“They were just really quick, and we just need to take our shots and get ahead early for next time.”
The Bucs hope to make improvements as they approach the season’s end.
“We have to play the ball quicker, play simple, and speed up. Winning touches and improving our speed of play will help us in these last games,” Henson said.
Even though the Lady Bucs were overtaken by Florida Atlantic yesterday, they won against South Carolina State last Wednesday night.
Achieving a career high with three goals, Emily Fulcher helped ETSU overwhelm South Carolina State, 6-1, in front of the home crowd last Wednesday night.
Dominating the game from the kickoff, the Buccaneers kept the ball on the attacking side for a huge majority of the game.
“We’re all pretty stoked about it,” said offensive hero Fulcher. “If we play our best, we can make an impact in any game. We definitely built confidence. With three games left, lots of starters got time to rest their legs, which is good going into play the one and two seeds.”
The team’s performance has benefited their poise on the field. “Our confidence in our scoring ability hopefully went up for this weekend. We finished a lot of balls, getting them to the back of the net, while denying those balls on defense,” said coach Heather Henson.
Meghan Morris helped lead the overpowering defensive effort for ETSU, which allowed eight shots collectively. Only five of those were on goal.
“The defense stayed in a solid rhythm,” Henson said. “We won the first ball off a goal kick a lot, but we’re trying to get the second touch as well. Winning the first is good, but getting both builds confidence and possession.”
“We can always win more balls. Both touches are important to get; once we flinch it, we have to be there to gain possession,” Fulcher said.
To open up scoring in a half that saw only one South Carolina State shot, Erin Ashton scored her team-leading 11th goal after taking a pass from freshman Rachel Layer.
Taking advantage of her various opportunities, Fulcher scored the next three goals of the night.
Following a late-game injury to midfielder Hannah Johnson, substitute Alexandra Schwark promptly scored her first goal of the year, while Katie O’Bryan put the final point on the board.
The final conference game for ETSU will not be easy, as they go on the road to face second-place Kennesaw State.
Depending on that outcome, ETSU will be somewhere between the third and sixth seed in the tournament.

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