JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Aug. 18, 2024) – The first win of the season is in the books for the ETSU women's soccer team.
Grace Eatz capitalized on a free kick attempt in the 35th, while
Ashton Blair registered her 12th career shutout to help lead the Buccaneers to a 1-0 victory over Eastern Kentucky on Sunday afternoon from Summers-Taylor Stadium.
Coming off a crushing loss in the season opener Thursday night at UAB, the Blue & Gold pressured the Colonels early and often and it finally paid off late in the first half when
Paige Carlsen was taken down by EKU's Lauren Link, setting up Eatz's free kick opportunity from just outside the 18-yard box. With intermittent showers hitting the field in the opening 45 minutes of the home opener, Eatz stepped up and delivered a perfect strike past EKU's goalkeeper Marah Krick for the lone goal of the contest.
With the win, ETSU moved to 1-1 on the young season, while Eastern Kentucky – who suffered a loss at Miami (Ohio) on Thursday – dipped to 0-2. The Bucs are now 2-0-2 in their home openers since 2021.
The Bucs came out on a mission as they fired five shots in the opening nine minutes, including two on target by Eatz in the first two minutes, followed by back-to-back looks from
Ava Matherne over an 18-second span in the ninth minute. Krick came up with save-after-save, but Eatz finally broke the stalemate in the 35th minute, giving ETSU the 1-0.
ETSU took 11 of its 24 shots in the opening 45 minutes with seven of those attempts coming on net. The Colonels were limited to three shots in the first half with Blair being tested on one of the looks, which came in the 43rd minute.
In the second half, the Bucs took 13 more shots with six different players accounting for attempts in the opening 15 minutes; however, they were just off the mark. Later in the frame,
Jada Cooper missed on her first collegiate goal as her shot hit the post, while Matherne had back-to-back shots on target in the 85th minute, but backup keeper Ruby Morgan made saves to keep it a one-score contest.
The Buccaneer defense did their job keeping the Colonels off the board as EKU put five shots in net in the final 45, but Blair and company rose to the challenge.
For the game, ETSU took 24 shots and EKU tallied 10. Both teams had four corner kicks, while EKU committed one more foul, 11 to 10. Individually, Matherne took seven shots (four on goal), while Eatz and
Reagan Fitzgerald each totaled four shots.
ETSU now turns its attention to hosting Tennessee on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
For more information on Buccaneer women's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's soccer tab.
