ETSU’s women’s soccer team kicked off Southern Conference play on Sept. 23 against the Furman Paladins. The game was held inside Summers-Taylor Stadium where the Bucs lost a close game, 2-1.
Coming into the game, the Bucs were looking to turn things around after a loss to Oklahoma on Sept. 15. Furman struck first as Shania Diaz scored on a free kick to put the Paladins up 1-0 in minute 15. Out of Furman’ seven first-half shots, three of them came in the first 15 minutes of the game. ETSU responded by scoring a goal of their own, courtesy of sophomore Sydney Somogyi (Germantown, Tennessee). This was Somogyi’s first collegiate goal of her career.
To start the second period of the game, the Bucs applied the pressure early and often to Furman goalkeeper Nora Sampson. In minute 52, forward Nele Bauer (Bammental, Germany) had an on-target shot that was denied. Just five minutes later, Emma Arnold (Bristol, Tennessee) tried her luck, but the shot was saved by Sampson.
Furman had three consecutive shots that were off-target before a late goal by Furman’s Valentina Mosquera in minute 78 put them up 2-1 to seal the game. An off-target shot attempt in minute 85 by Grace Eatz (Roswell, Georgia) was the Bucs’ last attempt to tie things up. ETSU was outshot 13-8, and 7-4 in shots on target.
Somogyi, along with two other Buccaneers, played the entire 90 minutes of the match with Kinsten Evans (Nolensville, Tennessee) logging 67 minutes off the bench. Goalkeeper Shu Ohba (Fujisawa, Japan) had five saves for ETSU, while Sampson ended the night with three.
Furman improves to (6-4-0) on the season and (1-0-0) in conference play, while ETSU falls to (2-4-2) and (0-1-0) in conference play. ETSU’s remaining games will all be against conference opponents as they look to turn things around.
