Oct. 23, 2009

Soccer Gameday Central

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina soccer team (8-6-2, 3-5-0 C-USA) plays its final home games of the season this weekend, beginning with today's 3 p.m. contest against UAB (10-5-1, 4-3-1 C-USA).

The Pirates currently sit in eighth-place in the league standings while the Blazers are in fifth. This year's Conference USA Tournament will only take the top six teams, making this game's outcome vital for both program's chances of heading to Dallas in two weeks.

Against UAB, East Carolina owns a 1-2-2 record, with the only victory coming in the first meeting, Sept. 29, 2002. The Blazers took the next two contests by 2-1 and 1-0 scores.

The past two games have ended in ties, as the teams played to a 2-2 draw last year in Birmingham and a 0-0 deadlock in Greenville in 2007.

In the 2008 contest, UAB took a 1-0 lead just 8:35 in, but Alexis Foltz scored at the 19:33 mark to tie the game. Tiffini Turpin put the Blazers ahead 2-1 when she scored at 68:34 only to see Madison Keller score her second goal of the season at 74:21 to force the tie.

East Carolina plays its final home game of the season Sunday at 1 p.m. when it hosts Memphis. Sunday is also Senior Day, as the team will celebrate the careers of Foltz and Jessica Swanson.

Pieces of Eight
Facts to Know Before Gametime ...

Kurowicki Bounces Back ...
Friday against Colorado College, junior goalkeeper Jen Kurowicki posted a career-high eight saves while surrendering just one goal. It was a bit of redemption for Kurowicki. Her last time in net before Friday's contest, she surrendered two goals in the final 10 minutes in the Pirates' 2-1 loss to Houston.

Consecutive Blankings ...
East Carolina dropped 1-0 and 2-0 decisions last weekend, marking the first time since the 2007 season the team has been shut out in consecutive games. The 2007 squad was blanked in two straight games twice during the season, but only lost one of those contests, as three ended in 0-0 ties.

The consecutive shutout losses were the first for the Pirates since 2004, when the team fell to Virginia Commonwealth 3-0, Charlotte 2-0 and Western Carolina 2-0.

Conference USA Shutouts ...
Last weekend's scoreless games were only the second time in program history the team has been blanked in back-to-back Conference USA contests. The only other time was in 2002, when the team tied Cincinnati 0-0 and fell to Charlotte 1-0.

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