ETSU Bucs Women's Soccer Huddle
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Veteran striker gets 20th career goal; Bucs beat Bears in regular season for first time since 2017
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 17, 2026) – The ETSU women’s soccer team opened SoCon play with a grinding 1-0 win over the Mercer Bears on Thursday night at Summers-Taylor Stadium. Reagan Fitzgerald converted a penalty in the 83rd minute to score the lone goal in a physical contest that saw the Buccaneers (4-3-1, 1-0-0) take down the Bears (5-4-1, 0-1-0) for the first time since 2023 and the first time in regular season play since 2017.
The Bucs earned the spot kick when a long ball over the top got Jada Cooper free down the right wing, Cooper got around defender Ashley Gilbert, playing the opposite side of the field after Mercer subbed out Regan Moore, and Gilbert closed in and collided with Cooper from behind to draw the whistle. Fitzgerald took the spot kick and hit a panenka that caught Mercer keeper Avery Parker diving to her left and floated right through where Parker was initially standing. Fitzgerald’s goal was the 20th of her career, making her the tenth player in ETSU history to score 20 or more goals and tying Terri Miller for ninth-most in a career. The goal also tied Fitzgerald with Miller for the eighth-most points in a career with 48. ETSU is now 17-1-2 all-time when Fitzgerald scores.
Mercer had one good chance near the end for an equalizer in the 89th minute. A long pass over the back line by national assist leader Anna Bachman short-hopped Addison Yelton and bounced off the ETSU keeper right into the path of Ariel Bolton. Yelton stopped Bolton’s point-blank shot, but the rebound caromed out to the top of the box to Emily Rutkowski with a yawning goal to shoot at. Rutkowski went low, and defender Molly Cason stuck her leg out and knocked the ball away to deny Mercer’s best chance of the night.
ETSU outshot Mercer 17-7 and defended one of the top goal-scoring units with aplomb. Yelton stopped two shots for her third shutout this season and the 11th of her career, breaking a tie with Shu Ohba for the fourth-most shutouts in a career in Buccaneer colors.
A trip to Wofford awaits ETSU on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
For more information on ETSU women’s soccer, go to ETSUBucs.com.
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