Friday, September 01, 2006

, Tenn. (September 1, 2006) - The ETSU women's soccer team fell in a tough 3-2 match to Austin Peay at the Liberty Bell soccer complex on Friday night. The Bucs drop to 0-3-0 on the season, while the Govs improve to 1-1-0.

ETSU struggled offensively during the first period, as the Govs generated 11 shots and forced four corner kicks. Austin Peay took the early lead on a score by Stacey Howell from Erica Dengler at the 27:11 mark.

Senior Emily Fulcher (New Bern, N.C.) made six saves as the Bucs went into half-time trailing by one.

"We just didn't come ready to play in the first half," said head coach Heather Henson. "I think our team was a little too excited about the first home match of the season. The team just had the jitters."

During the second period, the Govs wasted little time as Stacey Howell found the back of the net for her second goal of the night from Ashley Beck. The goal came in the 47th minute of play.

At the 55:16 mark, Austin Peay's head coach Kelley Guth was given a yellow-card for unsportsmanlike conduct, followed by a yellow-card to ETSU's Ashley Craig (Lakeland, Fla.).

However, moments later, Ashley Beck scored to give the Govs a 3-0 advantage.

The Bucs offense responded quickly as Aubree Snyder (Reading, Pa.) scored on a corner kick from Ashley Craig to give the Bucs their first goal on the season.

ETSU's defense then made adjustments as freshman Lindsay Metcalf (Mars Hill, N.C.) came in at the keeper position and Fulcher moved onto the field. The Bucs were then able to shut-down the Austin Peay offense and out-shoot them 9-6.

However, more yellow-cards were handed out as Austin Peay's Adonia Bivins and ETSU's assistant coach Chris Henson were charged with unsportsmanlike penalties at the 67:17 and 72:51 marks respectively.

The Bucs rallied late in the second half as sophomore Meredith Goldman (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored on an assist from Kia Kindell (Westchester, Ohio) at the 85:52 mark.

However, from there Austin Peay clamped down on defense to ensure their victory.

"The team that came out during the second half, is the team that is going to take us to the conference tournament we just need that team to come out for the entire 90 minutes," said Henson. "Having girls like Emily, Aubree, and Alex Schwark (Strongsville, Ohio) out there during the second half really made the difference for us. Their presence alone really sparks our team," added Henson.

The Bucs hit the road again for a six game swing beginning with Radford on Sunday, September 3. The match is slated to begin at 2 p.m.