Oct. 6, 2011

Match Guide l Live Stats l Live Video (All-Access)

GREENVILLE, N.C. Still searching for its first win of the 2011 Conference USA season, the East Carolina soccer team will play host to league foe Southern Miss Friday, Oct. 7 at the ECU Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. (ET). ECU Athletic officials have designated Friday and Sunday's game as Military Appreciation Weekend where all active members of the military and their families will receive free admission.

The Pirates (5-4-1, 0-3 C-USA) have dropped three-straight matches falling most recently to No. 6 Memphis at home 2-0 on Sunday, Oct. 2. Led by a quartet of upperclassmen, ECU comes into this weekend's action with a league-best 23 assists.

Junior Caty Butler leads the squad and is tied for the league lead in points (16) and goals (7), while senior Leah Bagonis has a team-best six assists, which ranks second among all C-USA players. Senior Kimmy Cummings is having her best season for the Purple and Gold having scored a career-best five goals and dishing out two assists. Fellow classmate Amanda Malkiewicz has three assists and netted her lone goal of the season at Charlotte.

In goal, Christiane Cordero has posted a pair of shutouts on the season (four career) when the Pirates blanked Francis Marion, 2-0, on Sept. 18. The sophomore keeper has allowed 16 goals in 10 starts, and has posted a 1.62 goals against average with a .698 save percentage. Nine of her 37 saves came against No. 21 William & Mary, a season-high for the Valencia, Calif. native.

Southern Miss (3-7-3, 0-3-1) enters Friday's action on a four-game skid dropping its last three matches where they have been outscored 9-2. Jordan Wagner leads the club with four goals and eight points, while a trio of players are tied for second with two goals apiece.

Senior keeper Hannah Vanderboegh has started 10 of 12 games posting a 3-7-2 record where she has allowed 21 goals and recorded 62 saves.

Inside the Series: ECU leads, 9-0-0
Sept. 30, 2001 - W, 2-1 (Away)
Sept. 21, 2003 - W, 4-0 (Home)
Oct. 17, 2004 - W, 2-1 (Home)
Oct. 16, 2005 - W, 2-1/2OT (Away)
Oct. 15, 2006 - W, 2-0 (Home)
Oct. 5, 2007 - W, 2-1 (Away)
Oct. 3, 2008 - W, 2-0 (Away)
Oct. 2, 2009 - W, 3-1 (Home)
Sept. 26, 2010 - W, 4-1 (Away)

Against C-USA Members: 36-32-12
Colorado College: 2-4-1
Houston: 6-2-0
Marshall: 4-1-1
Memphis: 0-9-2
Rice: 4-2-0
SMU: 2-4-1
Southern Miss: 9-0-0
Tulsa: 5-0-0
UAB: 1-2-4
UCF: 0-6-2
UTEP: 3-2-1

C-USA RPI Report
Heading into this weekend's action against Southern Miss and No. 24 UCF, the Pirates rank among the Top 100 in the NCAA's current RPI Report, which was released on Oct. 5. Below is a look at where the Pirates stand with all 12 C-USA schools:
8. Memphis
16. UCF
24. Rice
80. SMU
94. East Carolina
100. UTEP
105. Colorado College
129. Houston
184. UAB
199. Marshall
229. Southern Miss

Playing Top 25 Teams
This Sunday the Pirates will play their fourth nationally ranked team of the season (all at home) when they welcome No. 24 UCF to Greenville. Below is a look at how they have fared against the top teams in the country this season:
8/19/11 vs. No. 21 South Carolina (L, 4-0)
9/11/11 vs. No. 21 William & Mary (T, 2-2/2OT)
10/2/11 vs. No. 6 Memphis (L, 2-0)

Bulter Having Magical Year
Through the 10 games of the season, junior Caty Butler is on pace to tie former ECU standout Amanda Duffy's single-season records for goals (14) and points, which was set in 2001.

Butler, who leads the Pirates and C-USA in both statistical categories (7 Gs, 16 Pts), recorded her second career multi-goal game at UTEP in ECU's 3-2 loss. The Boerne, Texas native earned C-USA Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors (8/29) after scoring both strikes against UNCW, 2-0, in the new ECU Soccer Stadium. Currently she ranks among the national leaders in goals per game (35th/0.778 gpg) and points per game (40th/1.78 ppg).

In the first half of the season, her seven strikes are already the most by any other Pirate in the last four years. Here is a look at where she stands on the single-season charts in points and goals:

Single-Season Points
1. Amanda Duffy - 32 in 19 games (2001)
2. Amanda Duffy - 28 in 21 games (2002)
3. Kim Sandhoff - 27 in 19 games (2000)
4. Meghan McCallion - 26 in 21 games (2002)
5. Meghan McCallion - 25 in 19 games (2004)
** Caty Butler - 16 in 10 games (2011)

Single-Season Goals
1. Amanda Duffy - 14 in 19 games (2001)
2. Amanda Duffy - 11 in 21 games (2002)
t3. Kelly Gray - 10 in 19 games (2000)
t3. Meghan McCallion - 10 in 19 games (2003)
t3. Meghan McCallion - 10 in 19 games (2004)
t3. Kim Sandhoff - 10 in 17 games (1998) ** Caty Butler - 7 in 10 games (2011)

Bagonis Is Among NCAA's Best
Senior forward Leah Bagonis has dished out a team-best six assists so far this season, which ranks second in Conference USA and tied for 31st nationally. The Wallingford, Pa. native also stands 17th in the nation in assists per game (0.60 apg) and is one shy of moving into a tie for fifth place on the school's single-season charts.

Record Watch (Top-5)

Career Goals
1. Meghan McCallion - 39 in 80 gms. (2002-05)
2. Amanda Duffy - 33 in 74 gms. (1998-02)
3. Kim Sandhoff - 27 in 71 gms. (1997-00)
4. Kelly Gray - 21 in 70 gms. (1998-01)
5. Jennifer Reiley - 19 in 54 gms. (1996-99)
6. Amanda Malkiewicz - 18 in 70 gms. (2008-pr.)
** Caty Butler - 13 in 48 gms. (2009-pr.)

** Kimmy Cummings - 11 in 69 gms. (2008-pr.)

Career Assists
1. Kim Sandhoff - 28 in 71 gms. (1997-00)
2. Amanda Malkiewicz - 19 in 70 gms. (2008-pr.)
3. Meghan McCallion - 18 in 80 gms (2002-05)
4. Amanda Duffy - 17 in 74 gms. (1998-02)
5. Krystel Pabey - 14 in 74 gms. (2001-04)
** Leah Bagonis - 13 in 67 gms. (2008-pr.)
** Jessica Abshire - 11 in 70 gms. (2008-pr.)

Career Points
1. Meghan McCallion - 96 in 80 gms. (2002-05)
2. Amanda Duffy - 83 in 74 gms. (1998-02)
3. Kim Sandhoff - 82 in 71 gms. (1997-00)
4. Amanda Malkiewicz - 55 in 70 gms. (2008-pr.)
5. Kelly Gray - 48 in 70 gms. (1998-00)

Streaks Extended
Jessica Abshire and Amanda Malkiewicz entered their senior seasons each with a 60-game starting streak intact ... Malkiewicz extended her streak to 70 games after picking up her latest start against No. 6 Memphis (10/2), while Abshire's came to a halt in the season opener ... Below is a closer look at current double-digit starting streaks that are active heading into this weekend's matches:
70 Games - Amanda Malkiewicz (started 8/22/08)
30 Games -Hali Oughton (started 10/30/09)
29 Games - Christiane Cordero (started 8/20/10)
29 Games - Kimmy Cummings (started 8/20/10)
22 Games - Leah Bagonis (started 9/24/10)
18 Games - Maddie Maurer (started 10/3/10)
17 Games - Kendall Booth (started 10/8/10)

Cummings Record Hat Trick
Kimmy Cummings recorded her first career hat trick at Old Dominion (8/21) helping East Carolina to a 4-1 win. With the score knotted at one, Cummings received a through ball from freshman Beth Batchelor in the 41st minute breaking the tie and netting her first career game-winning goal.

In the 66th minute, Cummings was all alone on the right side of the field and booted a ball past the Monarch keeper for a 3-1 lead. Just six minutes later, the senior forward capped off the magical afternoon with her third goal sending a shot to the right of the box past the keeper on another through ball, this time from fellow classmate Amanda Malkiewicz. For Cummings it was her second career multi-goal game and the first ECU hat trick since Meghan McCallion netted three goals against DePaul on Oct. 1, 2004.

Butler Named C-USA Offensive Player-of-the-Week
Caty Butler picked up her first career C-USA weekly honor on Aug. 29 after she helped the Pirates to a 2-0 win over instate rival UNC Wilmington on Aug. 25. The junior netted both goals marking her first career multi-goal game of her career. In the 10th minute she received a through ball from senior Leah Bagonis and scored from 21 yards out staking the Pirates to an early 1-0 lead, her third career game-winning goal. In the 61st minute she sealed the victory with another through ball from Bagonis and beat the Seahawk keeper one-on-one for her second strike of the night.

First Career Starts
Freshman Mackenzie Semerad recorded her first collegiate start in the season opener against South Carolina ... The Arizona native has logged 357 minutes on the pitch and scored her first collegiate goal at Davidson (9/2) and dished out her first collegiate assist at Charlotte (9/4) ... She is tied for third on the team in assists (2) and is fifth in points (4).

First Collegiate Goals
Along with Semerad, fellow classmates Kelly Johnson and Lexi Miller have also netted goals during their rookie seasons on the field ... Both Johnson and Miller's goals were against No. 21 William & Mary last week in the double-overtime tie ... Johnson scored in the 42nd minute off a pair of passes from Cummings and Miller inside the box to tie the game at one ... Miller capped off her best game in her young career with another Pirate equalizer in the 71st minute on a header.