JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 20, 2024) – For the second straight game, the ETSU women's soccer team was taking on a Southern Conference leader. For the second straight time, the Buccaneers picked up a draw.
 
Grace Eatz recorded her first collegiate brace to help guide ETSU to a 2-2 draw with Samford in a rematch of last year's SoCon semifinal match on Sunday afternoon at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
 
Eatz, who notched her team-leading third and fourth goals of the season, gave the Blue & Gold a 1-0 lead when she found the back of the net for the first time in the 10th minute. Freshman Sadie Commerford helped start the run as she fed a ball forward to Natalie Capannelli. Capannelli gained control through the Samford defense and found Eatz open to the right of her right inside the 18-yard box. Eatz fired a missile into the upper right-hand corner of the net.
 
The 1-0 lead held for the remainder of the half.
 
The teams combined for seven shots in the opening 45 minutes with the Bulldogs testing Ashton Blair twice. Blair came up with the two stops to keep Samford off the board.
 
Unfortunately, Samford broke through off a penalty kick in the 70th minute when Sydney Somogyi took down Hanna Himes in the box and Whitaker Buchanan stepped up for the equalizer, making it 1-1.
 
Eatz wasn't done as she quickly responded to give ETSU the 2-1 advantage in the 77th minute. Georgia Shields fed Eatz on the run who had her first shot saved by Samford's Peyton Hull but Eatz was there for the rebound to bring Buccaneer faithful in a frenzy.
 
However, in the closing minutes of the game, the Bulldogs struck to tie things up at 2-2 in the 88th minute. Fleming Dean sent one into the box that was headed backwards by a Buccaneer defender and found its way to Layton Glisson as she headed one towards the goal. The shot hit off the left post off a diving save attempt by Blair and bounced right as it slowly crossed the line in the lower right corner of the frame.
 
The Bucs took the last two shots of the game as Lindsey Cook had her look blocked and Ellie Cornell's long-distance shot forced Hull to make a leaping save in the center of the net.
 
For the match, Samford finished with nine shots to ETSU's seven, while Blair made five saves. Eighteen total fouls (12 by Samford) and six yellow cards were booked in the match.
 
With the draw, ETSU – who played Western Carolina to a scoreless game last Thursday in Cullowhee – moved to 3-7-4 overall and 2-3-3 in SoCon play. Samford moved its mark to 8-6-3, 5-1-2. The last three regular season matches between the two teams have resulted in ties.
 
ETSU closes out regular season play next Sunday when the Bucs play at VMI at 2 p.m.
 
For more information on Buccaneer women's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's soccer tab.