East Carolina University
UNC-Wilmington
Pirates Remain Unbeaten At Home, Down UNC Wilmington 2-0
September 23, 2007 | Soccer
Sept. 23, 2007
East Carolina 2, UNC Wilmington 0 (PDF)
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GREENVILLE, N.C.--Jessica Swanson and Anastasia Nikas each tallied their first goals of the season to lead the East Carolina women's soccer team to a 2-0 win over in-state rival UNC Wilmington Sunday afternoon. ECU is now 5-1-2 while UNCW falls to 4-2-1.
The first half was all defense on both sides, as each team tallied just three shots a piece in the first 45 minutes. After the break, it looked as though the Seahawks had momentum, getting off a couple of shots on goal, but Pirate keeper Amber Campbell grabbed two saves to keep the game in a scoreless tie.
East Carolina got on the board in the 54th minute, as Blair Heffner headed a pass from a throw in to Nikas, passing the ball to Swanson to give ECU the 1-0 lead. Momentum remained on the Pirates side, as Amy Szilard was able to draw a foul inside the box, allowing Nikas to shoot a penalty shot with under ten minutes to play in the game, sealing the victory for East Carolina.
ECU has now won two straight, and is a perfect 5-0 at Bunting Field. Campbell and the Pirate defense have not allowed a goal in 626 minutes, dating back to the teams lone loss of the season (at Charlotte, Sept. 2).
"This game had a conference game feel to it," head coach Rob Donnenwirth said. "Whenever we play UNC Wilmington it is like that. I think that we did a good job limiting shots to the outside today and we were able to counter attack today. It was a gutsy effort from the entire team today, I cannot say enough about the way this team played today."
The Pirates return to action this Saturday, Sept. 29 as they host Francis Marion. Kick-off is slated for 3:00 p.m.
