Kennesaw State Plays East Tennessee State to a 1-1 Tie

October 22, 2011

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – On a cold, 49 degree Friday night at Summers-Taylor Stadium the Kennesaw State women’s soccer team played their hearts out to earn a 1-1 tie against East Tennessee State.

The tie moves the Lady Bucs to 11-4-1 (6-1-1 A-Sun), while the Black and Gold’s record moves to 6-8-2 (2-5-1 A-Sun). Unfortunately for the Owls the tie officially ends KSU’s chances of making the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.

The Owls started the game with a very patient style of play picking their spots and moving the ball from side to side getting a feel for how ETSU was playing.

This strategy allowed the Black and Gold to get two early, quality scoring chances. The first came in the fifth minute with senior Katie Scott blasting a shot from the top of the box that drifted just wide of the goal.

The Owls almost got on the board again in the 10^th minute as freshman Anna Gudmundsdottir sent a beautiful ball up ahead to senior Shelby Cosby for a breakaway opportunity. Cosby took a couple touches, but pushed her shot just wide to keep the game scoreless.

Kennesaw State continued to keep the pressure on and it finally paid off as senior Katie Schwartz put KSU ahead 1-0 on a corner kick in the 14^th minute. Junior Sofia Blanco sent the ball in off the corner that went off an ETSU defender, off the crossbar and then to the feet of Schwartz. Schwartz was able to gather the ball and poke it past ETSU goalkeeper Caitlin Gaughan to give the Owls a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Bucs didn’t let the Owls enjoy the lead for very long as Genna Petersen scored in the 17^th minute sneaking a shot under the sliding Melissa Hutto to tie the game up at 1-1.

The second half saw both teams use up a lot of energy going up and down the field, but not many scoring opportunities were to be had as both defenses really clamped down to keep it a tie game heading into overtime.

KSU and ESTU both had three shots in the first extra session, but none of the shots really tested either goalkeeper as the teams seemed content to go double overtime.

Redshirt-freshman Katrina Frost nearly gave the Owls the win in the second minute of the second overtime as her shot from inside the box deflected off an ETSU defender and was saved by Gaughan right on the goal line. A KSU team save in the 104^th minute and a fantastic save by Hutto in the 108^th minute capped off the second overtime period ending the game in a 1-1 tie.

“That was a great game to be a part of,” head coach Rob King said. “We played a controlled, possession game and created some terrific opportunities. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the winner, but I’m proud of the girls tonight.”

For the game the Lady Bucs outshot the Black and Gold, 22-20, while KSU had the edge in corner kicks 6-4.

Kennesaw State will wrap up its 2011 regular season on Sunday afternoon in Spartanburg, S.C. as it will take on USC Upstate.