ETSU women’s soccer lost 2-0 in a rough home game against Radford on Friday night.
This has the Bucs at a 2-3-2 overall record so far this season, but coach Adam Sayers is still confident in the ability of his team. “Credit to Radford,” said Sayers. “They are a very good team, having a great season,m and I think they will continue to have a great season but also credit to our players because so are we.”
The first few minutes of the game were played well by both teams, with no real penetration by either side. However, after the Highlanders stepped up their game a notch the aggressive opponents got their first goal after 23 minutes of play.
The Highlanders out-shot the Bucs 8-2 during the first half, while ETSU forced two saves out of the opposing goalkeeper with their two opportunities.
This allowed them to build up enough confidence to score another goal just five minutes later. They remained the dominant team throughout the remainder of the first half.
“What was going wrong in the first half, they corrected in the second half,” said Sayers. “The way that the second half went was great.”
Unfortunately, the Bucs were unable to score a goal by the sound of the final buzzer.
During the second half, things started looking brighter for the Bucs. The ball remained in their attacking side of the field, and they dominated the game.
“They have an aggressive personality, and I think that is what we need more of in order to get the ball into the net,” said senior Elena Pisani (Milan, Italy).
The Bucs’ defense stood strong as the held the Highlanders to only three shots in the second half. None of which tested blue and gold goal keeper sophomore Tess Mrozek (Johnson City, Tenn.).
“We have to be more aggressive and willing to get the ball into the net than our opponents,” said Pisani who started 17 out of the 18 games in the 2018 season.
