CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a season with several historic feats already created and more along the way, the Charlotte women’s soccer program honored one of its all-time greats while current head coach John Cullen reached an unprecedented milestone in the 49ers’ 3-0 victory over ETSU Sunday night at Transamerica Field.

Whitney Weinraub Tucci, one of the top Niners in program history, returned to campus for the weekend and became the third 49ers women’s soccer player to have her jersey recognized. She was joined by family members for an on-field ceremony prior to Sunday’s game in which her No. 6 joined the ranks of No. 10 (Lindsey Beam-Ozimek) and No. 13 (Hailey Beam) in the program immortals. At halftime, she was joined by her husband Anthony for a baby reveal, and after he successfully kicked a ball exploding in a pink powder, another standing ovation was provided by the Transamerica Field crowd for the announcement of a baby girl due in the spring.

On the field, current head coach John Cullen picked up Charlotte career victory No. 100. He was already the winningest head coach in school history but becomes the first to reach triple-digit wins. It also stands as No. 213 in his overall coaching career, including eight seasons at Catawba prior to returning to his alma mater in 2009.

This year’s crop of 49ers dominated the Bucs from start to finish, tallying a 25-to-3 shot advantage and not letting ETSU (1-5) have much of an offensive threat all night. The ball remained on the Charlotte half of the field for the majority of the contest, as Cullen was able to shuffle in all of his healthy players to play significant minutes and contribute to the triumph.

It was not until the 37th minute in which the Niners finally put a tally on the scoreboard, however, as junior Sophie Sipprell netted her first of the campaign at 36:53. Classmate Riley Orr shook free her defender along the left flank, just outside of the penalty box. She then retained possession and located Preseason All-Conference USA Team pick Megan Greene standing near the top of the box. The short pass between the two led to Sipprell breaking free from her defender. Greene one-touched a pass and Sipprell buried it into the back of the net from 15 yards away.

The score remained unchanged the rest of the half with the 49ers holding an 8-1 shot edge at the break. Barely after the halftime whistle, the Charlotte (3-2) lead doubled as Greene gained control on the opening kickoff and another 49ers charge towards the net. This time, she found junior Mary Manser on the right side. Manser received Greene’s crossing pass across the penalty box and sent her shot back across the goal mouth, to the far left post behind netminder Lea Ann Cutshall, for her first score since her freshman campaign at 45:31.

Charlotte continued to create chance after chance but was only able to place eight of its shots on goal, forcing Cutshall into just four saves. Several attempts were stopped by the Bucs defenders. In the 69th minute, junior Julia Grainda appeared to have a solid look at the goal but Cutshall made a fantastic diving save to her left to keep it out of the net.

Late in regulation, the 49ers were able to draw a foul inside the box to set up their first penalty kick situation of the campaign. Freshman Sandra Geiselhart toed the spot and had not trouble putting the ball home for her first career goal at the 83:25 mark.

The shutout for sophomore goalkeeper Abby Stapleton was her 10th of her career and third of the season, moving her into sole sixth-place standing in school history.

Freshman Michaella Arteta led all players with six shots, while Greene and Sipprell each had four to lead the Niners attack.

Charlotte will return to action with a short week, starting at 7 p.m. Thursday on the road at Elon. The road swing will continue through the state with a 1 p.m. Sunday stop in Greenville against ECU.

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