Johnson City, Tenn. ? Day one at the East Tennessee State University Invitational did not go well for the Stetson women's soccer team. In the tournament's opening game the Hatters took on the Catamounts of Western Carolina University. After 90 minutes of play WCU (4-2-0) took home a 2-0 win over the women in green (1-2-1).

Stetson ran into trouble from the start as evidenced by its 6-1 deficit in first half shots. Freshman Katie Bitetto made an early charge with the opening shot of the game which sailed wide. For the remainder of the half the Hatters fended off the Catamount attack.

“We weathered the storm in the first half”, said Stetson Head Coach Julie Orlowski. “We bent, but we did not break”.

The Hatters controlled play and led WCU in second half shots 6-1. Although brief, the trouble started at the 64:08 mark when sophomore Defender Elise Ketcham received a yellow card for rough play. The foul resulted in 15 minute delay on the field.

The delay acted as a catalyst for the Catamounts who went on to score two goals in the next three minutes and five seconds of play. Both goals scored by freshman Courtney Mallon were unassisted and were the result of Hatter miscues in the backfield.

Overall I was happy with the team's play. We just can't keep making mistakes in the back”, said Orlowski.

“We learned some lessons today. We are looking forward to taking our lessons learned and applying them to Sunday's match,” she added.

Sunday Stetson returns to the pitch and the ETSU Invitational in an effort to even its season record in a noon match versus Tennessee Tech.