Women's Soccer Falls in Opener, 4-1 to ETSU

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Rachel Van Horn scored twice to lead East Tennessee State to a 4-1 non-conference victory over homestanding UNC Asheville 4-1 Sunday afternoon at Greenwood Field. The match was the season-opener for both teams.

The Bulldogs (0-1-0) got on the board in the 81^st minute when junior midfielder Leilani Halkiotis scored on a blast from 10 yards out to cut the lead to 3-1.

However, ETSU controlled play for much of the day and out-shot Asheville, 23-11. The visitors scored twice in each half to record just their second ever win at Greenwood Field.

Bulldog goalkeeper Megan Dent kept Asheville in the match with a career-best seven saves.

"This is not the way we wanted to start our season opener," stated Bulldog coach Michelle Demko. "We gave up
an early goal which put us in a tough spot. There are some positives we will take away and apply to our next game as well as address a few issues that could have prevented several goals. There is still a lot of soccer left to play. We will move on and focus on Western Carolina."

The Lady Bucs opened the scoring at the 17:55 mark when Van Horn took a cross from Jessica Huntington and tapped the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Late in the first half, Lindsey Bickel scored the eventual game-winner. Her first shot was saved by Dent but the rebound went right back to Bickel, who scored at 34:51 for a 2-0 margin.

Both teams had goals wiped out due to off-sides calls in the final 10 minutes of the half.

ETSU took the first five shots of the first half before the Bulldogs came alive and fired six shots on goal in the final 30 minutes. The Lady Bucs had a 9-6 advantage at halftime.

The visitors dominated play to start the second half as they had the first six shots. Van Horn would score her second goal on a breakaway at 61:00 for a 3-0 margin.

Asheville came to life after that goal and created some offense. Halkiotis finally found the back of the net with a blast from 10 yards out.

ETSU closed out the scoring at 87:51 when Ramey Kerns scored off a pass from Genna Petersen.

Asheville plays again on Friday afternoon at home when the Bulldogs host Western Carolina at Greenwood Field starting at 4 p.m.