Pirates And Rams Battle To 1-1 Tie
August 13, 2010 | Soccer
Aug. 13, 2010
RICHMOND, Va. --- After a full 90 minutes of regulation and two extra 10-minute periods, East Carolina and VCU finished their exhibition game in a 1-1 tie at Sportsbackers Park Friday night.
The Pirates' opened the scoring in the 38th minute as Tricia Tufts found the back of the net from five yards out. Tufts, who had entered the game just four minutes earlier, received a touch pass from Caty Butler after she settled a long pass from Jessica Cunningham.
The Pirates' only other shot of the first half came in the 26th minute as senior Scarlet Van Loon had an excellent scoring chance from 25 yards out, but her shot hit off the left post.
"This was very good for us tonight," Pirate head coach Rob Donnenwirth said. "We were able to get a lot of people playing time and able to experiment with a lot of different combinations.
"We struggled to get off early, but the momentum changed and we able to get a couple of chances late in the first half."
ECU maintained the momentum in the second half with seven shots, but were out-shot in regulation, 11-9. However, the Pirates defense thwarted three VCU corner kicks in regulation time with sophomore goalkeeper Christiane Cordero recording four saves.
"Christiane was very good in goal tonight," Donnenwirth stated. "I think she gained a lot of confidence in her abilities tonight and our defenders were outstanding. They are all capable of giving us valuable minutes and each of them played very well tonight."
East Carolina led 1-0 at the end of regulation time, but the coaches had decided to play two 10-minute periods before the game began to allow everyone to receive playing time.
The Pirates maintained their one goal advantage until the 103rd minute when Gabby Wilson scored off a corner kick by Meaghan Dullhea.
"VCU is a very quick and organized team and they put a lot of pressure on the ball and that's one area we have to get better in," Donnenwirth explained. "We have to improve our passing and play off the ball."
ECU opens the 2010 regular season Aug. 20 on the road against UNC Greensboro.
