Thursday, October 31, 2002

Johnson City, Tenn. (October 31, 2002) - Despite a tough schedule and a youthful roster, the East Tennessee State women's soccer team is still in the hunt for the 2002 Southern Conference championship. The Buccaneers will face defending conference champion Furman University in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament to be held Nov. 7-10 in Greensboro, N.C. The tournament, hosted by UNC Greensboro, takes only the top eight teams in the conference. After a tough weekend in which ETSU lost to Georgia Southern and College of Charleston, the Buccaneers were reenergized after a Davidson loss to UNC Greensboro Wednesday night, giving ETSU a berth in the tournament. The Buccaneers are excited to have the chance to accomplish something that the women's soccer program has not done in its young history. "We've been given a good opportunity to do some exciting things because of a lot of hard work and sweat," said head coach Heather Henson. "I feel that the girls have grown and developed this season and are ready to take another step in the right direction for this program." ETSU will practice the rest of this week in preparation for this weekend's game against Morehead State on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1:00. Prior to the start of the game, ETSU will honor seniors Liz Smith (Arden, N.C.) and Lena Summers (Johnson City, Tenn.) for their hard work and dedication to the Buccaneer program.