JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Aug. 11, 2026) – The weather hasn't turned, but summer is coming to an end, and college sports returns to the Tri-Cities on Wednesday night when the ETSU women's soccer team hosts North Alabama in their 2026 season opener. Kickoff is set for 6:00pm at Summers-Taylor Stadium. Admission is free for all ETSU soccer matches.
MATCHUP: ETSU (0-0-0) vs. North Alabama (0-0-0)
DATE: August 12, 2026, 6:00pm
VENUE: Summers-Taylor Stadium (Johnson City, TN)
TV:
ESPN+
LIVE STATS:
StatBroadcast
The Buccaneers have 80% of their offense and 88% of their minutes played returning from a team that finished third in the SoCon in 2025. They enter 2026 riding a 10-game home unbeaten streak dating back to a 2-2 draw against Samford on October 20, 2024. ETSU was picked joint-second in the SoCon preseason poll, with
Reagan Fitzgerald,
Ella Parker, and
Georgia Shields receiving Preseason All-SoCon accolades. The trio played and started all 19 games for the Bucs last season, and Fitzgerald enters her senior year in the top 10 in program history in points (39), goals (16), and shots attempted (124) and is tied for third with eight game-winning goals.
North Alabama was picked to finish second in the UAC in 2026 as they join the conference from the ASUN. The Lions went 8-5-6 in 2025 and 4-3-3 in the ASUN. They boast the Preseason UAC Defensive Player of the Year in Adelyn Speight and were ninth in the country in goals against average (0.624) but were 276th in scoring offense (0.95). All seven players who scored for the Lions last year return this season.
This is the second meeting between ETSU and UNA in women's soccer and the return leg of a home-and-home series that began last year. ETSU won the first game in Florence thanks to a 20th minute header by
Reagan Fitzgerald and a defense that held UNA without a shot on goal.
For more information on ETSU women's soccer, go to ETSUBucs.com.
