Oct. 14, 2011

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

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina soccer team will hit the road for its final two road Conference USA matches this weekend when they travel to Tulsa (Oct. 14) and SMU (Oct. 16). Friday night's matchup against the Golden Hurricane is slated for an 8 p.m. (ET) start and will be played at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium.

The Pirates (6-5-1, 1-4-0) are coming off a split weekend where they recorded their third shutout of the season and first C-USA win over Southern Miss, 3-0. Senior forward Amanda Malkiewicz notched her first career multi-goal game scoring on a pair of strikes pushing her season total to three and career total to 20, which ranks fifth all-time at ECU.

Fellow classmate Kimmy Cummings collected her sixth goal of the season and assisted on another against the Golden Eagles helping the Pirates push their all-time record to 10-0. Junior Caty Butler leads the squad and ranks second in C-USA in points (17) and goals (7), while senior Leah Bagonis has a team-best six assists, which is second among all C-USA players.

In goal, sophomore keeper Christiane Cordero picked up her third save of the season (fifth career) stopping five shots and playing all 90 minutes in goal. On the season she has allowed 18 goals in 12 starts, and has posted a 1.52 goals against average with a .714 save percentage. Nine of her 45 saves came against No. 21 William & Mary, a season-high for the Valencia, Calif. native.

Tulsa enters the contest with an 8-5-2 overall record and a 2-3-1 mark in league action. Eleven players have scored a goal this season, including five by Claire Nicholson, three by both Lindsay Kirch and Stephanie Aitken, and two from Claire Hulcer. Katie Bykowski has logged nearly 1,300 minutes in goal, picked up 50 saves and earned seven shutouts on the year.

Inside the Series: ECU leads, 5-0-0
Oct. 21, 2005 - W, 3-2 (Home)
Oct. 20, 2006 - W, 1-0/2 OT (Away)
Oct. 10, 2008 - W, 1-0/2 OT (Home)
Oct. 9, 2009 - W, 1-0 (Away)
Oct. 3, 2010 - W, 2-1 (Home - played at SAS Park, Cary, N.C.)

Against C-USA Members: 37-33-12
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: 10-0-0
Tulsa: 5-0-0
UAB: 1-2-4
UCF: 0-7-2
UTEP: 3-2-1

C-USA RPI Report
Heading into this weekend's action against Tulsa and SMU, the Pirates rank among the Top 100 in the NCAA's current RPI Report, which was released on Oct. 12. Below is a look at where the Pirates stand with all 12 C-USA schools:
7. Memphis
17. UCF
32. Rice
70. SMU
72. Tulsa
74. Colorado College
80. UTEP
85. East Carolina
156. Marshall
146. Houston
220. UAB
256. Southern Miss

Playing Top 25 Teams
Last Sunday the Pirates played their fourth nationally ranked team of the season (all at home) when they fell to No. 24 UCF, 2-0, at the ECU Soccer Stadium. 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)
10/9/11 vs. No. 24 UCF (L, 2-0)

Bulter Having Magical Year
Through the 12 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 ranks second in 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 (64th/0.583 gpg) and points per game (66th/1.42 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 12 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 12 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 49th nationally. The Wallingford, Pa. native also stands 30th in the nation in assists per game (0.50 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. Amanda Malkiewicz - 20 in 72 gms. (2008-pr.)
** Caty Butler - 13 in 50 gms. (2009-pr.)

** Kimmy Cummings - 12 in 71 gms. (2008-pr.)

Career Assists
1. Kim Sandhoff - 28 in 71 gms. (1997-00)
2. Amanda Malkiewicz - 19 in 72 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 69 gms. (2008-pr.)
** Jessica Abshire - 12 in 72 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 - 59 in 72 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 72 games after picking up her latest start against No. 24 UCF (10/9), 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:
72 Games - Amanda Malkiewicz (started 8/22/08)
33 Games -Hali Oughton (started 10/30/09)
31 Games - Christiane Cordero (started 8/20/10)
31 Games - Kimmy Cummings (started 8/20/10)
24 Games - Leah Bagonis (started 9/24/10)
20 Games - Maddie Maurer (started 10/3/10)
19 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 369 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 fifth on the team in assists (2) and 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.