Thursday, September 18, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (September 17, 2008) - After completing the Texas portion of its three-game road trip, the ETSU women's soccer team looks to finish strong in non-conference play, as the Buccaneers face No. 20 ranked South Carolina with a 7 p.m., match Friday in Columbia, S.C.

So far in 2008 it's been a tale of two seasons for the Bucs. ETSU started the year with back-to-back wins against UNC Asheville and Morehead State, before dropping its last three contests to Vanderbilt, North Texas and regionally ranked No. 6 TCU, last Sunday.

Individually, junior forward Jordan Monty (Mesquite, Texas) and freshman midfielder Genna Petersen (Loveland, Ohio) lead the team with three points. Defensively, ETSU is led by freshman goalkeeper Megan Masch (Virginia Beach, Va.), who has started all five matches between the pipes, posting 27 saves on the year.

South Carolina, who is also regionally ranked No. 7, comes into the contest with an impressive 5-0-2 overall record. The unbeaten Gamecocks have picked up wins against regionally ranked opponent No. 2 Boston University, as well as East Carolina and Clemson. In its last contest, Carolina battled to a 3-3 tie against nationally ranked No. 9 Florida State.

Leading the way for the Gamecocks is freshman midfielder Kayla Grimsley, who leads the team with six points. Defensively, South Carolina returns junior defender Blakely Mattern, who was named to the All-American team in 2007, after earning Southeastern Conference's Defensive Player of the Year honors a year ago.

Live stats will be available throughout the match. Please visit www.GamecocksOnline.com for more information on game day or follow the link posted at  www.ETSUBUCS.com.