CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Oct. 29, 2026) - The ETSU women's soccer team fell 3-1 at Chattanooga on Thursday afternoon, slipping to fourth place in the SoCon standings with one game remaining.
Reagan Fitzgerald scored early for the Buccaneers (8-6-2, 5-3-1), but a Paige Thomas brace put the Mocs (9-3-5, 5-2-2) over the top for their first win since October 9.
The opening goal came in the ninth minute.
Georgia Shields took a throw-in short to
Natalie Capannelli, who returned the ball to Shields along the touch line left of goal. Shields threaded a cross through four Mocs defenders and found Fitzgerald, who rolled off the center back, got her left foot to the ball and lifted it in just under the crossbar from six yards out to tie her with Simona Koren for the seventh-most goals in program history with 24.
The Mocs answered in the 22nd minute. Paige Thomas pulled up on the right wing and hit a cross to Quinn Johnson in full flight down the middle of the field, and she fired an unmarked header into the back post for her eighth goal of the year to level the score.Â
She scored again on the stroke of 64 minutes on the back end of a back-and-forth sequence with Savannah Dunahay 30 yards from goal on the right side. Johnson opened up space to drive the ball with her left foot, and it bounced inside the six yard box before spinning into the side netting on the back post. ETSU conceded an own goal in the 83rd when a Thomas cross deflected off
Kassie Estep into the right post to seal the win for the Mocs.
Chattanooga outshot ETSU 13-5 and held an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Mocs also had a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks and were very aggressive on the attack, being called offside 7-1.
ETSU's loss mathematically eliminates them from the regular season title race, but can still clinch a first round bye in the 2026 SoCon Women's Soccer Championship with a Samford win over UNCG later on Thursday, and they will clinch a top four seed and hosting rights for a quarterfinal if a Samford win is paired with a Western Carolina win over Tennessee Tech.
The Bucs honor six seniors, including Fitzgerald and Capannelli, on Sunday against The Citadel. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m., and admission is free at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
For more information on ETSU women's soccer, go to ETSUBucs.com.
