JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (August 20, 2023) – On a sweltering afternoon, ETSU brought plenty of sizzle to their second match of the 2023 season. In the final quarter of an hour, they delivered the steak.
The first collegiate goals for Molly Cason (Ringgold, Ga.) and Reagan Fitzgerald (Oviedo, Fla.) powered the Bucs to a 2-0 win over the Wildcats on Sunday at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
Cason delivered off the end of an Ava Matherne (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) corner kick in the 76th minute. From the right of goal, Matherne drove the ball along the ground to the near corner of the six-yard box. Cason swept it behind her with her right foot to the back post to end ETSU's (1-0-1) 166-minute anticipation of its first goal this season.
Fitzgerald, who had been on the prowl for her first goal all afternoon, followed 71 seconds later with a highlight reel-caliber diving header on the end of a well-struck cross from fellow freshman Ella Parker (Jefferson, Ga.) to steer the ball into the right corner of the net.
After not finding the decisive breakthrough on Thursday, the Bucs were on a mission from the start.
Grace Eatz (Roswell, Ga.) got the first good look from the top of the box in the eighth minute, but Wildcats' (1-0-1) goalkeeper Emily Smith read the play well and made a clean save. Lindsey Cook (Greeneville, Tenn.) had a chance in the 18th minute from the top of the box off a corner kick but got under the ball and shot high and wide of goal.
ETSU poured the pressure on late in the first half with Fitzgerald leading the charge. Shortly after entering the game for the first time, she won a corner in the 30th minute. After sustained pressure led to a second corner on the same sequence, she won a header in the air but could not get the ball on frame. She appeared to have scored in the 38th minute, but the goal was waved off because of a handball against her.
In the second half, the action was more back and forth.
Cook challenged Smith from distance in the 53rd minute but was turned away. Aleia Gisolfi-McCready won a ball at midfield for the Wildcats that sprung a break in the 57th minute, but ETSU's back line recovered and blocked a first shot and deflected another into a routine collection for goalkeeper Ashton Blair (Knoxville, Tenn.). Sinoxolo Cesane (Capetown, South Africa) had a clear break through on goal but was in an offside position and called back as the ball crossed the line. Ruby Teixeira (Nashville, Tenn.) had a shot blocked in the 69th minute, and Matherne had a strong look at the goal from just outside the six-yard box blocked away by the Wildcat defense shortly after.
ETSU's 16 shots are the third-most the Bucs have had in a game in the Jay Yelton era, and 28 shots is the highest two-game total since March 5-7, 2021. Davidson was limited to four shots with Blair – who posted her second straight clean sheet – only having to stop one, coming off the boot from Brooke Ditcham in the closing seconds of the contest. This marks the second time in the last three years the Bucs have opened the season recording back-to-back shutouts.
Individually, Fitzgerald, Eatz and Cesane each registered three shots for the Blue & Gold.
The Bucs will ride the good feeling down Interstate 81 to Knoxville when they visit Tennessee Thursday at 7:00. For more information about ETSU women's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's soccer tab.
