Johnson City, Tenn. – Senior Becca Campbell scored her third goal of the season in the final minutes of regulation, but Western Carolina women's soccer came up short in its regular-season finale on Sunday afternoon, falling 2-1 to the host ETSU at Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City.
Having already claimed its first outright Southern Conference regular-season title, Western Carolina drops to 10-4-3 on the season and finishes SoCon play with a 7-2 record as the Bucs improved to 10-2-5 and post a 6-1-2 conference mark and secured the No. 2 seed in this week's conference tournament.
"It's was a tough game this afternoon, not are best today - credit to ETSU," said head coach Chad Miller. "We did get to rest some people and now we look forward to the SoCon tournament and hosting beginning on Friday."
Neither team was able to gain an edge in the opening 44 minutes until a corner kick in the final minute of the first half. ETSU's Emma Arnold sent a corner kick into the box and it was headed home by Grace Eatz to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead at the half.
The hosts extended the lead to 2-0 in the 66th minute as the Bucs Ava Matherne played a corner kick out to Arnold, knocking it over to Sinoxolo Cesane who buried the goal and advanced the advantage to two goals.
WCU drew a foul in the box in the closing minutes on Sunday and was awarded a penalty kick. Campbell stepped up to the penalty spot and drilled one home in the bottom center of the net, cutting the deficit in half to 2-1. The Catamounts continued to push after Campbell's goal but could not get the equalizer as ETSU hung on for the 2-1 win.
ETSU held a 13-9 advantage in shots. Isabella DeMarco led the Catamounts with two shots as seven other players, including Campbell, each tallied a shot with the Edmonton, Alberta native's shot finding the back of the net. Ashton Blair made a pair of stops as both Leanne Trudel (71 minutes) and Eden Reece (19 minutes) saw action in goal for WCU on Sunday afternoon.
The Catamounts now focus on the SoCon tournament set to begin for WCU on Friday at 7 p.m. from the Catamount Athletics Complex. Western Carolina will square off against the winner of No. 8 seed Wofford against No. 9 seed VMI, which will be contested on Tuesday night in Spartanburg. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats on CatamountSports.com.
WCU will also host the #4 Furman and #5 UNCG quarterfinal match in the SoCon tournament with kickoff set for 4 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN+. The winners from Friday's matches will battle on Sunday at 1 p.m. from Cullowhee for a spot in the SoCon Championship.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's soccer and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @Catamountsoccer).
