Oct. 16, 2009

Soccer Gameday Central

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina soccer team (8-4-2, 3-3-0 C-USA) continues road Conference USA action this weekend, playing at Colorado College and UTEP. It will be just the second time the Pirates have played at either school, with the other trip being in 2007.

ECU takes on the Tigers (8-5-1, 4-2-0 C-USA) at 4 p.m. Friday and faces the Miners (10-4-0, 4-2-0 C-USA) at 2 p.m. Sunday. Colorado College and UTEP are two of four schools tied for second in the league while the Pirates check in seventh, but are only three points behind the second-place group.

The Pirates defeated Tulsa 1-0 last Friday, but were edged at SMU 2-1 Sunday. Freshmen Caty Butler scored the game-winning goal against the Golden Hurricane and sophomore Amanda Malkiewicz had Sunday’s tally.

Colorado College and East Carolina are tied in the regular season all-time series at 1-1-1. The Pirates won the first meeting, 2-1, but the Tigers took the 2007 contest by the same score. Last year in Greenville, the teams played to a 0-0 tie. At last season's Conference USA Tournament, ECU recorded a 2-1 overtime victory to advance to the league championship game.

Next weekend, East Carolina returns home for this season's final games at Bunting Field. The Pirates face UAB at 3 p.m. Friday and Memphis at 1 p.m. Sunday for Senior Day.

Pieces of Eight
Facts to Know Before Gametime ...

West Of The Mississippi ...
This Friday and Sunday mark consecutive weekend trips west of the Mississippi River for ECU. It is the first time since the 2005 season that the Pirates have traveled that far west twice in a season. That year, the Pirates went 1-3 while playing at Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Rice and Houston.

Since the start of the 2005 season, the Pirates have gone 5-6-1 in regular season contests west of the Mississippi River.

Friday’s Good Fortune ...
East Carolina returns to the site of its last loss on a Friday when it travels to Colorado College. The Pirates have not lost a Friday game since a 2-1 setback Oct. 26, 2007, at Colorado College.

This season, ECU has gone 5-0-2 in Friday contests. The trend of nonlosing Fridays began in the 2007 season. Since the start of 2007, the Pirates have gone 17-1-6 on Friday.

Freshmen Making Their Mark ...
Through the team's six Conference USA games, ECU has totaled 20 points with 12 of those being produced by freshmen. Butler leads the way with four, Hali Oughton and Chrissy Gratz each have three and Rachel Wechsler has two.

Malkiewicz has a team-high six points in league play and junior Bailey Wilcox has two points. Wilcox is the only upperclassman on the score sheet in league action.

For the season, the Pirates have 69 points with 25 coming from freshmen.

Butler’s Winners ...
Butler has scored East Carolina's game-winning goal in the team's past two victories. The two strikes are the only goals of her career and tie her with Malkiewicz for the team lead in game-winning goals.

Oct. 2 against Southern Miss, Butler corralled a loose ball in the goal box and sent a one-timer into the back of the net. Last Friday in Tulsa, Butler scored from 12 yards away at 9:18 to account for the game’s only goal.

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