Oct. 9, 2009

Soccer Gameday Central

 

GREENVILLE, N.C. - For the first time since Sept. 18, the East Carolina soccer team (7-3-2, 2-2-0 C-USA) will play an away game, as the team travels to Tulsa, Okla., and Dallas, Texas, for Conference USA contests this weekend. The Pirates take on the Golden Hurricane (5-5-2, 2-2-0 C-USA) at 8 p.m. today and SMU (3-7-1, 1-2-1 C-USA) at 3 p.m. Sunday.

ECU picked up a 3-1 victory over Southern Miss last Friday, but fell to No. 21 UCF 2-0 Sunday. Junior Bailey Wilcox and freshmen Caty Butler and Chrissy Gratz scored the Pirates’ goals Friday. Freshman goalkeeper Berit Hansen made a career-high eight saves Sunday, but the Knights scored twice in the second half to earn the win.

East Carolina has never lost to Tulsa, going 3-0-0. Every game in the series has been decided by one goal. Only the first meeting, in 2005, has not gone into double overtime. The last two contests have ended in 1-0 Pirate victories while the first game was a 3-2 ECU win.

Last season in Greenville, Blair Heffner scored with only four seconds remaining in the second overtime to give East Carolina the triumph. The goal was set up by a corner kick the Pirates received with 15 seconds left. Nicole Moore and Jessica Woodward recorded assists on the score.

Pieces of Eight
Facts to Know Before Gametime ...

Friday’s Good Fortune ...
This season, East Carolina has gone undefeated at 4-0-2 when playing on Friday. In Sunday games, however, the Pirates are just 3-3-0.

The trend of non losing Fridays began in 2007. Since the start of that season, ECU has gone 16-1-6 in Friday contests. The only loss during that span was a 2-1 setback at Colorado College Oct. 26, 2007.

On the other hand, since 2007, the Pirates have gone just 11-9-5 in Sunday games.

Hold That Lead ...
ECU has a 6-1-0 record when scoring first this season. The only loss was a 2-1 defeat Sept. 27 against Houston when the Pirates scored less than five minutes into the contest, but gave up two goals to the Cougars within the final 10 minutes.

Conversely, when the opponent scores first, the Pirates are 1-2-1. The only victory was the season-opening 2-1 triumph over Virginia Commonwealth. The tie came in the Sept. 11 2-2 draw at N.C. State, when the Pirates fell behind 2-0 within the first 25 minutes.

A Balanced Offense ...
Five players have scored the Pirates’ five goals in C-USA contests.

Butler On The Board ...
Butler scored the game-winning goal last Friday against Southern Miss when she collected a loose ball in the goal box and fired it into the back of the net. The goal was the first of Butler’s career. The Pirates’ past two victories have come via a freshman scoring the game-winner on her first collegiate goal.

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