CARROLLTON, Ga. (Sep. 4, 2025) - It was a gem of a night for Ruby Teixeira.
The redshirt junior assisted on a Reagan Fitzgerald goal in the first half, then snuck in a header herself just under the hour mark to propel ETSU to a 2-0 win over West Georgia at University Soccer Fields on Thursday night. The victory marks consecutive wins for ETSU for the first time in 2025.
The supremely in-form Fitzgerald was buzzing around the goal from the outset for the Buccaneers (3-2-2) and was called offside after what initially appeared to be a clean breakaway for a goal in the fifth minute. She picked a defender's pocket 20 yards from goal in the 16th, but her shot was saved on the near post by Wolves (0-6-0) keeper Emily Sanabria.
The breakthrough came five minutes later, when Teixeira launched a corner kick hard and fast across the face of goal about 10 yards from the line, leaving plenty of space for Fitzgerald to take a running leap and steer it home for her 11th career goal and seventh via header.
The Bucs' best chance to double their lead came in the 39th, when a well-measured aerial pass from Kinsten Evans found Jada Cooper with room to run, but an aggressive Sanabria cut down the angle and funneled Cooper's shot into her gloves.
ETSU had a collection of modest chances in the first quarter of an hour after the break, and Georgia Shields' searching pass from the left flank looked like another one until it went straight up in the air off the head of a defender. A lurking Teixeira settled under it and sent up a high-arching header that snuck in just beneath the crossbar for her first goal of 2025 and fifth at ETSU. Teixeira now has 17 career points, trailing only Fitzgerald and Grace Eatz among active career leaders for the Bucs.
ETSU dominated the shot counter by a 21-7 final margin, with 11 shots on goal to just one for the Wolves. Addison Yelton stopped her only SOG faced for her third shutout this year. The back line featured a career-high 75 minutes for sophomore Kassie Estep and 66 for freshman Caroline Wawak after multiple injuries early in the game pushed the young substitutes into action.
The Bucs return home for two more non-conference games starting Sunday against UNC Asheville at 1:00pm. Admission is free for all ETSU soccer home matches.
For more information on ETSU women's soccer, go to ETSUBucs.com.
