East Carolina University
Marshall
Pirates End Season With 1-0 Win Over Marshall
October 30, 2009 | Soccer
Oct. 30, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Sophomore Amanda Malkiewicz scored the game's only goal at 76:03 to give East Carolina a 1-0 victory over Marshall Friday night at Sam Hood Field. The win allowed the Pirates to finish the season with a 9-7-3 record and a 4-6-1 mark in Conference USA. Marshall ends the year at 12-7-0 and 5-6-0 in the league.
The triumph keeps East Carolina undefeated against the Thundering Herd in series history at 4-0-1, including a 2-0-1 ledger in Huntington.
"I am proud of the team's effort," head coach Rob Donnenwirth said. "This was an intense game and we put together a strong 90 minutes."
Pirate freshman goalkeeper Berit Hansen made her first start since Oct. 11 at SMU and recorded her second shutout in Conference USA games.
"Berit was huge in goal," Donnenwirth said. "The whole team defended very well."
Marshall's Megan Tabler took the first shot of the contest at 1:03 before ECU took four attempts between 8:37 and 12:32. Senior Jessica Swanson hit the post with the first shot of the series and Thundering Herd goalkeeper Liz Orton made saves on Swanson and freshman Chrissy Gratz.
Molly Snead took another attempt for Marshall at 13:08, only to see Hansen make the save. The Thundering Herd took two more shots on goal between 23:11 and 27:20 and Hansen made both stops.
Pirate freshman Rachel Wechsler took the final shot on goal of the half for either team at 34:34, but Orton made another save.
The Marshall offense started strong in the second half, taking three shots within the first 5:08. Tabler had the only shot on goal, and Hansen turned it aside.
The Thundering Herd had the next scoring opportunity at 59:58 when it received a corner kick. Erika Duncan headed the ensuing pass toward the goal, but missed wide.
Wechsler and Gratz recorded shots on goal for ECU at 63:33 and 64:34, but Orton made both saves.
After another Gratz shot, Malkiewicz scored the game's goal off an assist from sophomore Jessica Woodward. Malkiewicz collected the ball within the five-yard box and put it past Orton.
Marshall took six shots within the final 13:17 with two on goal that Hansen stopped to preserve the victory.
With the game, the careers of seniors Alexis Foltz and Swanson, who played in her 80th contest tonight, came to a close. The 80 matches tied Swanson for fourth with Meghan McCallion and Melissa Penney on the all-time ECU games played list. The only Pirates who have more than 80 career games played are Nicole Moore (81), Madison Keller (82) and Amber Campbell (82), who all were part of the Pirate program from 2005-08.
"I am happy for Alexis and Swani," Donnenwirth said. "The team wanted to send them off with a win."
