The Citadel’s defense crumbled under ETSU’s relentless offensive force led by Alexa Passingham and Sarah Zadrazil Sunday during a decisive victory by the Bucs, allowing them to remain undefeated in the Southern Conference.
The final score was 8-0, with Passingham and Zadrazil scoring two goals each.
The team’s victory would not have been possible without the leadership of the team’s coach, Adam Sayer.
Sayer has been coaching women’s soccer for ETSU since the spring of 2011. Beyond that, he has coached soccer since 2004, giving him the experience needed to shape the Bucs into a successful team.
“We had a very complete performance today,” Sayer said. “We’re very pleased with the way the girls have been playing. We had a set of objectives to complete, and we did that today.”
The Bucs handled themselves professionally on the field. Even with a breakaway goal very early in the game by Zadrazil, the team exhibited good sportsmanship.
“The Citadel is a very organized, hardworking team,” Sayer said. “Getting that early goal was crucial; it somewhat broke them down and allowed the rest of the game to open up for us.”
“We knew that The Citadel was a first-class team, and in order for us to do well, we were going to have to play well,” Sayer added. “We definitely did that today.”
The difference in the game was the number of shots on and off goal for both teams.
The Citadel took 17 shots, with only nine of them being on goal. ETSU took 32 shots with 17 of those shots being on goal.
Both teams had a collected total of nine saves apiece, but with the shotstaken margin being so wide, ETSU’s offense gave the superior performance.
Passingham came to ETSU from England and will be graduating in December.
“I think what gave us the game today was such a strong start,” Passingham said. “When we got that first goal, it just gave us the confidence straight away.”
Passingham said the match the Bucs played on Friday against Mercer was a tough one that made it very hard for them to score. That match ended in a 1-1 tie.
“Confidence is really what helped us win [Sunday],” Passingham said. “Just passing the ball and keeping possession is what actually won us the game, but you have to be confident for it to work out.”
Passingham and Zadrazil led the team in scoring with 2 goals apiece.
Zadrazil has been playing soccer since she was 5 years old. She hopes to go on to play professional soccer after she graduates.
Zadrazil assisted in scoring 2 of the other 9 goals, with Passingham assisting Zadrazil in scoring one of her own.
The seniors really helped push their team to its full potential during Sunday’s game.
“The atmosphere within the team was great,” Zadrazil said. “I think that’s what really helped us win the game.”
Although it was an 8-0 sweep, Zadrazil still thinks there is always room for improvement on the field.
Even in a near perfect game for the Bucs, The Citadel had several opportunities to score.
“I don’t think we should have allowed them to have as many shots on goal as they did,” Zadrazil said. “We were the better team today, but we should have had more control of the ball on their side of the field than we did.”
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