The women’s soccer team played the Mercer Bears on Oct. 18, where they lost 2-1 in double overtime. They bounced back quickly to defeat The Citadel Bulldogs 3-1 on Oct. 20.
This brings the team up to 5-9-3 overall, and their first SoCon win brings them up 1-5-1.
“The girls have been pumped all week.” said head coach Adam Sayers. “They played really well, and I’m happy with their performance.”
The Bucs kept possession of the ball for the majority of the match against Mercer, with both teams showing their grit from the beginning to promise another nail-biting game. The Blue and Gold had two shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of play and scored their first goal at fifteen minutes with a shot from junior Beatrice Abati (Milan, Italy), which gave the Bucs the early 1-0 lead.
Neither team had much success past that first goal, until the 48th minute when junior Sydney Cavender (Scott Depot, West Virginia) missed a shot, sending it flying over the left post.
At minute 86, the Bears scored their first goal, evening the score. The shot was initially saved by sophomore goal keeper Tess Mrozek, (Johnson City, Tennessee), but was sent right to the foot of a Bear, who took the shot and made the goal.
The game went into double overtime with the Bears finalizing the 2-1 score at minute 104.
“I think we are very lucky this season, but the only thing we can do is keep up,” said senior Elenea Pisani (Milan, Italy).
ETSU next played The Citadel Bulldogs in the last home game of the season on Oct. 20, which also served as Senior night for the Blue and Gold. The match featured 32 fouls called between the teams.
Less than two minutes into the game, the Bucs honored their seniors with the first goal from a shot by Cavender. After 25 minutes, the Bucs scored their second goal, the first of the season from junior Raffaella Giuliano (Caserta, Italy).
Eight minutes following, the Bulldogs took their chance and scored their first goal, setting the score at 2-1 just before the second half.
The second half had both teams improve their defenses. With eight minutes left in the second half, junior Maegan Sours (Erie, Colorado) took her shot and secured the game for the Buccaneers.
The three seniors honored were Allie Duggan (Boca Raton, Florida), Kourtney Gaylord (Mooresville, North Carolina) and Pisani.
“I’m so confident in our team because we play well,” Pisani said”We’re just missing a little something. We don’t know what it is yet, but we are trying.”
The Bucs take the field again on Oct. 25 in Lexington, Virginia, where they are scheduled to play VMI at 4 p.m.
