Thursday, October 06, 2005

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (October 6, 2005) - The ETSU women's soccer team extended their A-Sun winning streak to three in a row with a 5-2 victory against Lipscomb on the road Thursday night.  The win improves the Buccaneers record to 6-6-0, 3-2-0 in the A-Sun. 

It was a team effort for the Buccaneers as all five goals were scored by five different players.  Freshman Ashley Craig (Lakeland, Fla.) stepped up big for ETSU contributing one goal and two assists on the night. 

The Lady Bisons shut down ETSU in the first half while taking control offensively with a 2-0 start. But the second half proved to be all ETSU as the Buccaneers scored five goals in the period and kept Lipscomb scoreless.

"We definitely didn't maintain possession in the first half and they took advantage of it," said head women's soccer coach Heather Henson.  "The second half we found our feet and created more scoring opportunities.  We battled through and kept taking shots and earning corners."

In the first half shots were even with both teams making seven. In the second half ETSU out-shot the Lady Bisons 24-3 to finish with a 31-10 shot advantage.

For Lipscomb, Melissa Chambers led the attack scoring both goals.

Senior midfielder Erin Ashton (New Bern, N.C.) opened the scoring for ETSU at 66:05 on a cross shot from junior Blair Degraw (Greensboro, N.C.).  Next, senior defender Meghan Morris (Bowie, Md.) scored an unassisted goal at 73:44 on a rebound shot.

Junior midfielder Emily Fulcher (New Bern, N.C.) headed the ball into the net with an assist from Craig at 77:16.  Craig picked up a second assist with a corner kick that was put in the net by freshman Rachel Layer (Bel Air, Md.).

To close out the scoring Craig scored an unassisted goal, shooting from the left side of the field into the right side of the net at 87:44.

ETSU made a goalie change at the half. Freshman Erin Bilyeu (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) started and allowed two goals while also making two saves. Sophomore Carrie Hill (Hixson, Tenn.) played the second half, making one save.

The Buccaneers are on the road again Saturday, October 8th at Belmont.  Game time is set for 2:30 p.m.