Sept. 20, 2009

Soccer Gameday Central

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina soccer team will wrap up non-conference action today hosting in-state rival UNC Wilmington at 2 p.m. for Beach Day at Bunting Field. Fans are encouraged to bring beach towels and chairs and will be allowed to sit on the grass surrounding the track.

East Carolina holds a 9-5-1 advantage in the all-time series with UNC Wilmington as the programs have met every year, except for 2004, since the Pirate soccer program began.

The series has been characterized by streaks as ECU has won the last two meetings, but the Seahawks won the 2005 and 2006 contests. The Pirates took the 2002 and 2003 games after UNC Wilmington won in 2001. From 1996-2000, East Carolina won five of the six meetings with the other contest ending in a 0-0 tie.

Last year in Greenville, the Pirates won 2-1 in overtime as Jessica Swanson scored the game-winning goal at 96:06.

Swanson’s Game-Winning Goals Against UNCW ...
Senior tri-captain Swanson has five career game-winning goals, two of which are against in-state rival UNC Wilmington. Last year, she took a pass from Blair Heffner and scored at 96:06 and in 2007 Swanson scored in the 54th minute on another Heffner pass to lead ECU to a 2-0 victory.

Leaders In Conference USA ...
A look at the C-USA statistics, through Sept. 13 games, shows Pirate players tied for the conference lead in four categories. Junior Bailey Wilcox is in a tie with four players for most points with nine. She is also tied with five players for most goals (4) and with three players for goals per game (0.67). Sophomore Amanda Malkiewicz is tied with five players for the league lead in gamewinning goals with two.

Getting Younger By The Game ...
After juggling their starting line-up, the Pirates began last Sunday’s game against Old Dominion with six freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and one senior.

No other team in Conference USA starts such a young unit. The closest in the league is SMU, which generally starts eight freshmen and sophomores. On the other hand, 10 schools in C-USA typically start at least five juniors and seniors compared with just two for ECU.

It’s All In The Shots ...
East Carolina has a 4-0-1 record when recording more shots than its opponents, but is 0-1-1 when being outshot this season. For the year, the Pirates have recorded 96 shots to their opponents’ 73.

Two Is The Magic Number ...
Since the start of the 2006 season, ECU has posted a 28-0-3 record when scoring two or more goals. The only ties occurred in a 2-2 game Sept. 11 at N.C. State earlier this season and twice last year in a 2-2 draw at UAB on Oct. 24 and the following game’s 3-3 deadlock at home against regular-season cochampion Memphis on Oct. 26.

Tough To Beat In OT ...
Since the start of the 2007 season, the Pirates have gone 5-1-11 in games that have stretched into overtime or double-overtime. The only loss occurred at UCF on Oct. 7, 2007, when Yvonne George scored with 58 seconds remaining in the second OT. In 2008, East Carolina went 4-0-4 in games that went extra time.

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