Sunday, September 06, 2009

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 9, 2009) - Despite consistent offensive pressure throughout the match the ETSU women's soccer team fell to regional rival UNC-Asheville 1-0 Sunday at Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City.

With the win UNC-Asheville improves to 2-1, while the Bucs fall to 1-4 on the young season.

"Early we played our game," said head coach Heather Henson. "Our pressure was there and I thought we had a good attacking style of offense as play started. Then literally, around 22 minutes into the match our team dropped back and stopped putting Asheville's players into difficult situations."

After a scoreless first half in which both teams combined for five shots, the two teams came out of the locker room and turned up the offensive intensity.

After a quick shot by ETSU junior forward Terri Miller (Cape Coral, Fla.), the Bulldogs countered the Buc attack, playing the ball across the midfield to freshman forward Chole McCleary-Small. From there the UNC-Asheville newcomer raced through the ETSU defense, netting her first career goal in the 58^th minute.

"I think our team learned today that we can't just show up to the field and win," said Henson. "Each task that might come up during a match has to be won. This afternoon we didn't complete each pass, or win every 50-50 ball in the air, and as the match moved on that gave Asheville the confidence they needed to score the goal."

After falling behind ETSU would respond with a quantity of offensive chances. The Bucs fired 11 shots, in addition to three corners in the final 32 minutes of play.

ETSU's best scoring opportunity came as senior defender Kia Kindell (Westchester, Ohio) fired a loose ball from 30 yards out, that was tipped over the goal by Bulldog keeper Veronica Lazar.

During the ensuing corner kick, Miller served a beautiful placed ball into the box; however Lazar again made a brilliant save that kept the Asheville lead with four minutes to play.

"For us to be successful we must play the entire match with the same intensity we had when we started the half," said Henson. "From the mental game, to our physical play, our players must compete for every ball. That starts from the seniors and moves down through the freshmen. Today we got a glimpse of that at times, but until we do that for the entire contest our play is going to continue to move up and down."

The Gold and Blue returns to action with their first of three straight road matches, starting with a 7:00 p.m., contest at Ole Miss next Friday night.

For more information on the ETSU women's soccer team please visit www.ETSUBucs.com. Also you can follow daily post and updates on the official ETSU women's soccer team Twitter page at www.twitter.com/ETSUSoccer.