Kerns scores late but Lady Bucs unable to find equalizer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Oct. 19, 2012) – Two first-half goals were too much for the ETSU women’s soccer team to overcome on Friday night, as the Lady Bucs were defeated, 2-1, by Jacksonville at the Ashley Sports Complex.

Junior Ramey Kerns (Kings Mountain, N.C.) scored her 16th goal of the season off a corner kick from Samantha Kron (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) with just over three minutes to play, but the equalizer never came. Jacksonville (7-6-3, 4-2-2 A-Sun) scored goals from Kaitlyn Bassett and Miranda Frye in the first half, which proved to be enough to edge ETSU (11-5-0, 5-3-0 A-Sun) and put the teams within one point of each other in the Atlantic Sun Standings

For the game, the Dolphins outshot the Lady Buccaneers by a total of 23-13, while ETSU held the edge in corners, 11-7. Bassett led the game in shots, firing six to go along with her goal and assist. Jill D’Amico made six saves for JU, while freshmen ETSU keepers Kara Krajenta (Cordova, Tenn.) and Sierra Campbell (Thompson’s Station, Tenn.) combined for six saves.

The result drops ETSU to fifth in the league, and eliminates the Lady Bucs from any shot of earning a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the 2012 Atlantic Sun Tournament Championship. Mercer and FGCU were both winners on Friday night, putting them five and four points ahead of ETSU, respectively. With a win on Sunday against North Florida, ETSU is guaranteed either a No. 3 or No. 4 seed, and the right to host a quarterfinal.

Kron put on the game’s first chance just over a minute in on Friday night, finding freshman defender Hannah Short (Bristol, England) in the penalty area. Short took the night’s first shot, but it was sent high of the crossbar. Sophomore Ellis Parsons (Cardiff, Wales) put the Lady Bucs’ first shot on goal a few minutes later, which D’Amico saved.

From there, JU built some momentum and opened the scoring in the 25th minute. Raquel Weckhurst sent in a corner, which found the head of Bassett to put JU on top. Jacksonville’s next shot came in the 38th minute and also resulted in a goal. Emily Culbreth sent in a ball from the corner, which eventually was played to Frye on well outside the left half of the penalty area. Frye took a chance, and found the back of the net to put the Dolphins up two heading into halftime.

The start of the second half saw Campbell come on to replace Krajenta in goal. Campbell faced 13 second-half shots, making four saves and keeping the Dolphins at bay. All four of those saves came between the 59th and 62nd minutes.

ETSU held its own in terms of the shot battle through the second half, putting nine attempts at D’Amico. Freshman Sarah Zadrazil (St. Gilgen, Austria) beat the JU keeper with less than four minutes remaining, but her shot was cleared off the line by a Dolphin defender.

With 3:33 on the clock, Kerns broke through to put ETSU on the board. Kron sent in a corner, which found the A-Sun’s leading goal scorer to put the Lady Bucs within a goal. Zadrazil went for the equalizer with 29 seconds remaining, but her shot sailed high.

ETSU ends the regular season on Sunday, taking on North Florida at Hodges Stadium at 1 p.m.

ETSU Notes

- Ramey Kerns scored her 16th goal of the season, increasing her ETSU single-season goals and points records.

- Samantha Kron tallied her fifth assist of the season, which ranks second on the team behind Sarah Zadrazil’s nine.

- ETSU is guaranteed to host a quarterfinal next Saturday with a win on Sunday against North Florida.

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