JOHNSON CITY, TENN. (Aug. 24, 2007) - The ETSU women's soccer team fell to the Furman Paladins, 1-0 on Friday in exhibition play at Summers Taylor Stadium. This will be the only exhibition contest for the Bucs.

In the first half, ETSU and Furman traded the ball back and forth, until Rachel Fry headed the ball past goalkeeper Erin Bilyeu (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) on a corner kick from Sara El-Shami with less than five minutes remaining in the first half.

In the second period, the Bucs continued to battle it out but were unable to convert against the Paladin defense.

Senior Katie O'Bryan (Hampton, Va.), junior transfer Katie Green (Knoxville, Tenn.), freshman Rachel Van Horn (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and sophomore Danielle Bayles (Atlanta, Ga.) all contributed a shot. Bilyeu recorded six saves on the day.

"It was really exciting for us to be able to play our very first game in our home stadium today. It's always good to play an opponent like Furman in exhibition because it provides us with such a high level of competition," said head coach Heather Henson. "I feel like our team really matured their play today during the second half of the game and I hope to see them continue to mature their play throughout the rest of the season."

The Bucs will officially open their season Friday, August 31 as they host the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State. The game will be held at the new on-campus Summers Taylor Stadium and match time is set for 4 p.m. For all ETSU women's soccer action, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.