The Chattanooga Mocs netted a 1-0 victory Friday night in Johnson City against Southern Conference foe East Tennessee State at Summers-Taylor Stadium during Rivalry Week.
Chattanooga improves to 6-8-2 overall and 3-3-1 in SoCon action. ETSU is 5-4-3 overall and 2-3-1 against the conference.
“Great win on the road,” McKinney said after the win. “We are beginning to play good football and the fight from the group is excellent. Hopefully we can continue it on for our final two matches.”
The Mocs controlled much of the action throughout the first half with a 9-3 shots margin in the opening frame.
As the clock wound down to close out the first half, Faith Gober fed a pass into Mackenzie Smith in the middle of the field just outside the 18-yard box.
Smith beat out three defenders to get to the ball and one-touched it with her right foot to the left side of ETSU’s keeper and into the bottom left of the goal in the 44th minute.
The Mocs carried a 1-0 lead into intermission and that score would stand for the win for UTC’s fourth 1-0 victory this season.
Chattanooga outshot the Bucs 18-6 behind a combined 11 shots from Samantha Shaw (6) and Smith (5). Adryan Darnell and JaNiya Stevens each clipped a pair toward the goal. UTC evenly divided its shots with nine in each half and both teams had three corner kicks apiece.
Chattanooga keeper Abbey Saddler had four saves in the match and ETSU’s Shu Ohba recorded five on the night.
The goal was the second on the year for Smith who is second on the team in scoring. Saddler recorded her fifth shutout of the season and ninth of her career.
The Mocs remain on the road to take on Western Carolina Sunday afternoon in Cullowhee. The match is set to kick off at 2:00 p.m. Follow the action online at GoMocs.com.
SCORING SUMMARY
1 43:43 UTC Mackenzie Smith (Faith Gober)