Soccer Travels To Wake Forest
September 06, 2009 | Soccer
Sept. 6, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina soccer team will play its first ranked opponent of the season today when it travels to Winston-Salem to face No. 17 Wake Forest at 1 p.m. inside Spry Stadium.
Friday against Stony Brook, East Carolina scored two goals within the first seven minutes of the second half to win 3-1. For the second straight game, Amanda Malkiewicz scored the game-winning goal. Rachel Wechsler tallied assists on both second-half goals.
The Demon Deacons have won all five meetings with ECU, but the teams have not played since Oct. 1, 2003 at Wake Forest. The hosts won that contest 1- 0 as Meagan Mullins scored the game’s lone goal at 33:36 off an assist from Elizabeth Remy on a corner kick.
Wake Forest, ranked No. 17 in the country this week by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, has begun the season 5-0. The Demon Deacons have defeated High Point, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, Loyola and Kentucky by a combined score of 15-2.
East Carolina faces another ACC opponent in it’s next game, N.C. State. The two teams square off in Raleigh Friday at 7 p.m. It will be the fourth meeting in the series, with ECU leading 2-1. The programs last met August 26, 2000 in Raleigh, when the Pirates won 1-0.
Pieces Of Eight
Facts To Know Before Gametime
Starting 3-0, Going For 4-0 ...
After defeating Stony Brook 3-1 Friday, ECU has begun the season 3-0-0. Only two other times in program history have the Pirates gone the first three games without a loss, 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.
Continuing The Helping Trend ...
A look at the Conference USA statistics, through Aug. 30 games, shows ECU leading the league in assists with eight and assists per game with 4.00. A year ago, the Pirates set the program record for assists in a season with 44.
A Goal Turnaround ...
East Carolina is tied for first in the conference in goals per game with 3.00. That average is double what the Pirates finished with last year, when they had 1.5 goals per game.
Back-To-Back Winners ...
For the second-straight game, sophomore Amanda Malkiewicz netted the game-winning goal. She scored the winner at 12:56 against Gardner-Webb and at 46:38 against Stony Brook.
Malkeiwicz now has five game-winning goals in her career, tied for the most on the team.
Hanson Off To 2-0 Start ...
Freshman Berit Hansen has come in at the beginning of the second half in all three of the Pirates’ game this season. She has recorded victories against VCU and Stony Brook to begin her career 2-0.
Cummings’ Goal Outburst ...
Last 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, leading the Pirates to a 4-0 victory. 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, Part I ...
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 experienced action in that game.
Lots Of Goals, Part II ...
East Carolina has scored nine goals through the first three games of the season, an average of 3.00 per game. It took the Pirates seven games to reach the nine-goal mark a year ago.
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 tied for second on the team with two assists this season.
Two Is The Magic Number ...
Since the start of the 2006 season, ECU has posted a 28-0-2 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 stretched 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.
