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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 25, 2026) – The cliché says to make hay while the sun is shining – to take advantage of the opportunities when the conditions are right. For the ETSU women’s soccer team, the conditions were right on Friday night under a full luminescent moon.
ETSU matched its best SoCon start since rejoining the league with three second half goals to defeat Tennessee Tech 3-0 at Summers-Taylor Stadium on Friday night. Reagan Fitzgerald, Natalie Capannelli, and Bailey Coston all scored in the first 20 minutes of the second half to pull away for the win. A 3-0-0 start is the program’s best since 2015, and the Buccaneers (6-3-1, 3-0-0) remain in first place outright in the SoCon.
The Golden Eagles (3-5-4, 0-1-2) got a couple of half-chances early, but never seriously threatened Addison Yelton and the ETSU defense. The Bucs struggled to mount consistent offense of their own, but Kassie Estep nearly put them ahead in the 10th minute with a shot that rattled the joint between the right post and the crossbar before hopping out of play. Natalie Capannelli had another look off a corner kick in the 23rd, but missed wide left on a sequence that portended ETSU’s breakthrough in the second half.
A scorching McKlain Jones run won ETSU a corner kick just two minutes into the second half. Estep whipped the ball into the box from the right side, but Abbey Hayberg’s header was blocked. Capannelli approached it at the top of the box and fired a one-timer that landed comfortably in the side netting behind the left post for her first goal since October 27, 2024, to put the Bucs in front.
The Bucs doubled their advantage in the 58th. Fitzgerald and Estep worked together off a free kick to get Estep an angle down the flank, but her cross was blocked out of play for a corner. On the ensuing corner, Estep floated the ball to just inside the penalty spot where Fitzgerald shook free of her defender and headed the ball into the left post for her 22nd career goal, moving her into eighth outright on the ETSU career scoring list. Fitzgerald has now scored in four consecutive games and six of the last eight.
ETSU threw the knockout punch in the 64th with a fresh face on the scoresheet.
An Ava Duffey cross from the left side was steered out of the box, but pressure by Capannelli forced an errant pass back into a dangerous area, where Bailey Coston charged forward and shot low and out of the reach of Tech goalkeeper Drew Tolley inside the left post for her first collegiate goal in her third appearance for ETSU.
The final shot count favored ETSU 11-5, and shots on goal favored the Bucs 5-2 after TTU got two shots on goal in the first 24 minutes. Capannelli led the Bucs with three shots and two on goal. Yelton got the win, her 14th as a Buccaneer, and once again split the shutout with Finley Dybik, who got the last eight minutes of the match in goal.
ETSU has six days off before going to Cullowhee to face Western Carolina on Thursday at 7 p.m.
For more information on ETSU women’s soccer, go to ETSUBucs.com.
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