No. 4 ETSU takes on No. 5 Mercer in quarterfinals

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Oct. 28, 2021) – Coming off back-to-back road wins to end regular season play, the ETSU women’s soccer team looks to carry that momentum with them as they begin its run towards a Southern Conference Championship this weekend. The fourth-seeded Buccaneers take on fifth-seeded Mercer Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET from Samford’s Shauna Yelton Field.

THE MATCHUP

#4 ETSU vs. #5 Mercer

Friday, Oct. 29 | 7:30 p.m. ET | Shauna Yelton Field

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ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU enters postseason play riding a two-game win streak as the Bucs sit 7-5-3 overall and 4-4-1 in SoCon play.
• The Bucs earned a 2-1 road win at UNCG last Friday and ended the regular season with a 1-0 win at VMI on Sunday, marking ETSU’s first conference weekend sweep since Oct. 12-14, 2018 when the Blue and Gold defeated the same league foes.
• Following the pair of road wins, ETSU improved to 5-2-1 away from home, tying the most road wins in single-season program history.
• Freshman goalkeeper Shu Ohba (Fujisawa, Japan) earned her third SoCon Defensive Player of the Week honor on Tuesday … Ohba collected 11 saves and allowed just the one goal in those two road matches last week … Ohba became just the second player in SoCon history to win three Player of the Week honors, joining Samford’s Jermaine Seoposenwe, who accomplished the feat in 2017 … Ohba is the third ETSU player to win three weekly SoCon awards as Lisa Gallagher (1998, ’01) was the first to do so, followed by Simona Koren in 2014-15.
• Ohba tallied her seventh shutout in last Sunday’s 1-0 win over VMI, extending on a new single-season program record … The previous record was five, set by four different keepers, most recently being Lee Ann Cutshall in 2017 … Ohba’s seven shutouts rank fourth-most among Buccaneer career leaders with Jasmine Elliott holding the school record, 13 from 2013-16.
• The Bucs have allowed only 12 goals in 15 matches this season, marking the fewest goals allowed in program history … ETSU leads the SoCon in fewest goals allowed and a 0.76 goals against average.
• As a team, the Bucs rank 17th nationally in save percentage (0.860), while Ohba ranks 21st with an 0.859 mark and her seven shutouts rank 25th.
• ETSU is eyeing its third straight win on Friday, which would mark the Bucs’ longest win streak since winning four consecutive games from Sept. 21-Oct. 1, 2018.
• Since rejoining the SoCon in 2014, ETSU is 5-4 in the SoCon Tournament and have advanced to the semifinals in three of the six years (Bucs didn’t make the tournament in 2020) … The Bucs reached the championship game in 2016, falling to Samford, 2-1, at home.

ABOUT MERCER

• Mercer enters the tournament with an overall record of 6-5-5 and a conference mark of 3-2-4.
• The Bears are coming off a 3-0 win over Wofford on Sunday.
• Mercer is 2-1-3 in its last six games.
• The Bears have outscored their opponents, 29-16, with Ally Fordham leading the club with nine goals.
• Thirteen different players have scored at least one goal for the Bears this season.
• Mercer is outscoring its opponents, 13-4, in the first half this year, while being plus-84 in shots in the opening 45 minutes, 153-69.
• Jordyn Ebert has started all 16 games in goal … Ebert has totaled six shutouts and an 0.814 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY

• Friday marks the 20th all-time meeting between the two programs with Mercer holding an 11-5-3 advantage.
• The teams played to a scoreless draw back on Sept. 26 in Johnson City … Shu Ohba tied her career high with nine saves in the match … There were 40 total fouls in the match, including seven cards (six yellow and one red).
• Mercer out-shot ETSU by eight, 17-9, but the Bucs had two stellar chances to break the stalemate – both coming off the foot of junior midfielder Katie Philips (Tega Cay, S.C.). Five minutes into the second half, Philips stole the ball away from Kylie Buchanan and made a move just outside the box to fire one near the left side of the post. However, Ebert made a diving save as the ball deflected off her hands, hit the post and bounced right back into her arms, keeping it a 0-0 contest. Later in the frame, Philips came back on the field and made her presence felt minutes after returning to the pitch. Coming off the Bucs’ lone corner of the night in the 78th minute, Philips controlled the ball and fired one past Mercer defenders but Ebert was there for the save. Then, a minute and 20 seconds later, the Buccaneer junior dazzled the fans with some excellent footwork to get past two Bear defenders as she cleared space in the left side of the box but shot it wide right of the open net.
• Philips led all ETSU players with three shots on the night, while Mercer had three players generate three shots.
• ETSU and Mercer have met three times in SoCon Tournament play since 2014 with the Bucs winning the last two meetings … The Bucs’ last win in the series came in the 2018 quarterfinals when ETSU won, 1-0, in Johnson City.

UP NEXT

The winner of Friday’s quarterfinal match takes on the winner of No. 1 Samford-No. 8 Chattanooga in Sunday’s semifinal … Game time is set for 2 p.m. ET.

For more information on ETSU women’s soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women’s soccer tab.