Soccer Hosts Stony Brook
September 04, 2009 | Soccer
Sept. 4, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina soccer team will try to extend its winning streak to three games when it hosts Stony Brook today at 4 p.m. at Bunting Field.
Following a 2-1 win over VCU in the season-opening game, the Pirates traveled to Gardner-Webb Sunday and topped the Runnin’ Bulldogs 4-0. Amanda Malkiewicz scored the game-winning goal just 12:56 in and Kimmy Cummings scored twice in a seven-minute span in the second half. Goalkeepers Jen Kurowicki and Berit Hansen combined in the shutout.
Today’s game with the Seawolves will be the third in the series. Neither team has been able to claim a victory, however, as both games have ended in ties. The first contest was a 1-1 deadlock in 1998 in Greenville. The last meeting, at Stony Brook on Sept. 16, 2007, finished in a 0-0 draw.
Following a second-place finish in the America East Conference in 2008, the Seawolves welcome back eight starters and 19 letterwinners for head coach Sue Ryan’s 25th year. Stony Brook opened the season against Iona Aug. 21 and fell 2- 0 before hosting No. 23 Rutgers and playing to a 1-1 tie Sunday.
The Pirates have a quick turnaround after Friday’s game as they head to Winston-Salem to face Wake Forest Sunday at 1 p.m. The Demon Deacons have won all five meetings with ECU, but the teams have not played since the 2003 season, when Wake Forest won 1-0.
Pieces of Eight
Facts to Know Before Gametime ...
Reaching The Century Mark ...
Head coach Rob Donnenwirth recorded his 100th win at East Carolina with the Pirates’ 4-0 victory at Gardner-Webb Sunday. Donnenwirth is the winningest head coach in Pirate history, having 70 more than second-place Neil Roberts, who led the program from 1995-98.
Donnenwirth is also one of only four coaches in Conference USA to have 100 wins with his or her current program. Amanda Cromwell (141) of UCF, Paul Harbin (129) of UAB and Kevin Cross (106) of UTEP have all passed the 100-victory threshold.
Above .500 ...
With the 4-0 victory over Gardner-Webb, ECU’s program record is above .500 for the first time ever, at 132-131-30.
After its first three years, the program record was 12-43. Before Donnenwirth took over, in 1999, the Pirates were 28 games below .500. During Donnenwirth’s time with ECU, he has had only two sub-.500 seasons.
Starting 2-0, Going For 3-0 ...
With the win over GWU Sunday, East Carolina improved to 2-0. It is the second consecutive year the Pirates have started 2-0 after failing to open the season with two wins since 2002.
ECU has only started a season 3-0 twice, in 1996 and 1998. In 1996, the team began with three straight wins, and in 1998, the squad got off to a 4-0 start.
The Only Game-Winners Against GWU ...
For the second time in as many seasons, Amanda Malkiewicz scored the game-winning goal against Gardner-Webb. Last season, she tallied the winner at 6:22 and Sunday’s came at 12:56.
Malkiewicz also has ECU’s only game-winning goals against Gardner-Webb, as those two contests are the only two in series history.
Cummings’ Goal Outburst ...
Sunday against Gardner-Webb, East Carolina led 2-0 until 68:39, when sophomore Kimmy Cummings scored her first of two goals within a seven-minute span. Cummings’ first goal was assisted by freshman Caty Butler. On Cummings’ second, scored at 75:35, sophomore Leah Bagonis picked up her second assist of the game.
The two-goal game was the first of Cummings’ career and the first by a Pirate since Oct. 31, 2008, when Blair Heffner scored twice against Marshall. The pair of goals also gave Cummings more points than she recorded all of her freshman campaign.
Lots Of Goals ...
Malkiewicz had the game-winner, Cummings scored twice and Bailey Wilcox added the fourth goal for East Carolina against Gardner-Webb. The four goals were the most the Pirates had scored in a game since Oct. 6, 2006, against Marshall, when the team scored five times. Senior Jessica Swanson is the only current Pirate who saw action in that game.
A Combined Blanking ...
Junior Jen Kurowicki and freshman Berit Hansen combined to blank GWU Sunday. The shutout was the first in either of their careers, as they made two saves each. For the second straight contest, Kurowicki started and played the first half with Hansen coming in at the beginning of the second.
Helping Her Teammates ...
Freshman Chrissy Gratz scored 50 goals as a senior at Archbishop McCarthy High School in Sunrise, Fla., but it has been her passing so far that has made an impact at East Carolina. She is the only Pirate to have picked up assists in both games this season and is tied for the team lead with two.
Two Is The Magic Number ...
Since the start of the 2006 season, ECU has posted a 27-0-2 record when scoring two or more goals. The only two ties came last season in a 2-2 draw at UAB on Oct. 24 and the following game’s 3-3 deadlock at home against regular-season cochampion Memphis on Oct. 26.
Tough To Beat In OT ...
Since the start of the 2007 season, the Pirates have gone 5-1-9 in games that have gone into overtime or double-overtime. The only loss occurred at UCF on Oct. 7, 2007, when Yvonne George scored with 58 seconds remaining in the second OT. In 2008, East Carolina went 4-0-4 in games that went extra time.
