?KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 23, 2023) –?Fresh off their first win of 2023, the ETSU women's soccer team starts a three-game road trip in Knoxville with a visit to Tennessee on Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
THE MATCHUP
ETSU (1-0-1) at Tennessee (2-0-0)
Thursday, August 24 | 7 p.m. | Regal Stadium (Knoxville, Tenn.) | SECN+ | Live Stats
ABOUT THE BUCS
- ETSU defeated Davidson 2-0 on Sunday to grab its first victory of 2023. Freshmen Molly Cason (Ringgold, Ga.) and Reagan Fitzgerald (Oviedo, Fla.) scored 71 seconds apart in the 76th and 77th minutes to put the Bucs decisively ahead of the Wildcats.
- Four freshmen were involved in ETSU's two goals on Sunday. Cason and Fitzgerald scored their first career goals, and Ava Matherne (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) and Ella Parker (Jefferson, Ga.) registered their first career assists on Cason and Fitzgerald's goals, respectively.
- ETSU's 16 shots against Davidson 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.
- The Bucs' back-to-back shutouts mark the second time in three years ETSU has not conceded a goal in the first two games of the season. The Bucs shut out Presbyterian 1-0 on August 26, 2021, and UNC Asheville 1-0 three days later.
- Goalkeeper Ashton Blair (Knoxville, Tenn.) has posted consecutive shutouts for the second time in her career. She previously blanked Presbyterian and USC Upstate on August 24-28, 2022.
ABOUT TENNESSEE
- The Lady Vols are off to a hot start in 2023, having routed Cal and Lipscomb by a combined score of 7-1 in their first two matches.
- Tennessee is led by Kameron Simmonds, the only player to score in both matches. Simmonds represented Jamaica in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, entering as a substitute in Jamaica's first-ever Women's World Cup win, 1-0 over Panama on July 29 in Perth, Australia.
- The defense is led by senior Lawson Renie and junior Sheridan Michel. Renie is a three-year starter who has led UT in minutes played each of the last two seasons. Michel transferred into the program after starting for two years at Oklahoma where she earned second team All-Big 12 honors in 2022.
- UT was picked sixth out of 14 teams in the SEC preseason poll. The Lady Vols return three players with 10 or more starts from a team that went 11-6-2 and reached the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team in 2022.
SERIES HISTORY
- This is the eighth meeting between the Bucs and the Lady Vols, and the fifth in the last decade. Tennessee has won all seven previous
- The last matchup between the two was September 6, 2018, when UT defeated ETSU 4-0 at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
UP NEXT
The road trip continues for the Bucs with a visit to Gardner-Webb on Sunday night at 6 p.m.
For more information on Buccaneer women's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's soccer tab.
