The Lady Bucs Soccer team kicked off the regular season Friday under a light drizzle that soon escalated into a monsoon-like downpour.
Three hours, one rain delay, and two overtimes later the Lady Bucs held the defending Sun Belt Champion Middle Tennessee State University Lady Raiders to a 1-1 tie.
From the beginning of the game the crowd knew the game was going to be a strength versus strength match.
Head coach Heather Henson had the Lady Bucs ready to play tough physical defense against a smaller, faster MTSU team.
This style worked in the beginning as the Bucs had the same amount of shots on goal as MTSU at the rain delay.
Prior to the rain delay, ETSU goalie Erin Bilyeu, affectionately nicknamed “Billie” by the fans, had three quick saves.
But more impressive was the ETSU defenders harassing the MTSU offense into poor shot selection, making Erin’s life a little easier.
The youthful Bucs got even more physical toward the end of the first half frustrating the Lady Raiders.
On the offensive end, for the Bucs, Jordan Monty, last year’s A-Sun Freshman Player of the Year, was getting good penetration but the Lady Raiders did an excellent job closing any passing lanes.
The first half closed with a scoreless tie and MTSU getting two more shots on goal than the Lady Bucs.
The second half opened in a very exciting manner as the home fans were treated to Jordan Monty’s unassisted goal from the middle of the Lady Raider defense.
MTSU tied the game off a Holly Grogan assist to Kala Morgan in the 18th minute.
The game went into two overtimes and the Lady Bucs defense was dominant for 20 minutes not allowing a single shot on goal.
Unfortunately none of the five ETSU overtime shots found their mark and the game ended in a tie.
Henson was proud of the girls effort saying that such a young team is only going to get better with playing time.
Fans should be excited about the potential of such a young team, holding a defending champion to a tie while starting four freshmen.
The team was without the help of senior Aubree Snyder who has been injured with a torn meniscus.
Henson was excited about the physicality of her team, saying it’s a contact sport and she recruits tough players.
The Lady Bucs next game is Sept. 3 against the University of South Carolina.
They will be at home again Sept. 14 against Tennessee Tech in the ETSU invitational tournament with a 4 p.m. kickoff.
The Lady Buccaneers record is now 0-0-1.

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