Thursday, November 02, 2006

KENNESAW, Ga. (November 2, 2006) - The ETSU Bucs ended their season in heartbreak as the Jacksonville Dolphins advanced to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun conference tournament in a match that came down to a shootout. The Dolphins advanced after making four of their penalty kicks to ETSU's three. The Bucs end their season 5-10-4 overall and 4-3-3 in the Atlantic Sun.

During the first period, the Bucs and Dolphins battled back and forth for the early lead with ETSU outshooting Jacksonville, 6-3. The Bucs stingy defense was able to fend off the Jacksonville attack as sophomore Erin Bilyeu (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) made two saves in the scoreless first half.

Jacksonville jumped out to an early lead in the second period as Kerri Zwikker found the back of the net from six yards out on a pass from Courtney Eppleman in the 51^st minute.

The Bucs responded quickly as Kia Kindell (Westchester, Ohio) scored her first goal of the season on a tap in from about five yards out from Jordan Monty (Dallas, Texas) a minute later. The two teams continued to battle but regulation would end with a 1-1 tie.

In the first overtime, ETSU outshot Jacksonville, 4-1 but were unable to convert on their opportunities.

The deadlock would continue through the second overtime session to send the match into a shootout.

In the shoot out the Bucs converted on penalty kicks by Emily Fulcher (New Bern, N.C.), Rachel Layer (Bel Air, Md.), and Hannah Johnson (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) but Jacksonville's Zwikker, Regan Riley, Jaime Kuykendall and Katie Orr were able to get their shot's past Bilyeu to advance to the quarterfinals.

"I'm so proud of the girls, they got down early in the second half but they just battled back," said head coach Heather Henson. "They fought very hard and continued to battle. I'm very proud of this team, they have really battled back from a lot of injuries early in the season and they just haven't quit.'

For more information on ETSU women's soccer visit www.etsubucs.com.