Soccer Set To Kick Off 2010 Season Friday Night
August 20, 2010 | Soccer
Aug. 20, 2010
2010 Soccer Preview with Head Coach Rob Donnenwirth (All-Access)
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's soccer team kicks off the 2010 season Friday night when they square off against the four-time defending Southern Conference regular-season champions UNC Greensboro. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. (EST) at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
A year ago, the Pirates posted a 9-7-3 record, including a 4-6-1 mark in Conference USA, finishing in a tie for eighth place. ECU returns its top seven scorers from last season, including Amanda Malkiewicz, its top points leader (16 and six goals), and preseason All C-USA performers Bailey Wilcox and Amanda Broz. The Pirates also welcome back Chrissy Gratz and Rachel Wechsler, who shared the team lead with five assists.
Wilcox led the Pirates with seven goals during the 2009 season and finished second on the team in points with 15. In the game against Old Dominion she put the ball in the net with just under four minutes remaining to give the Pirates a 1-0 victory. She started all 19 games a year ago and has played in 54 games during her career, tallying 11 goals, including two game-winners.
Broz, played in 18 of 19 games last season, and helped the Pirates post six shutouts as a defender. Her lone goal of the season was the game-winner in a double-overtime win against UNC Wilmington. During her first three seasons as a Pirate, Broz has accumulated six goals, four of which have secured victory.
The ECU trio of upperclassmen (Malkiewicz, Wilcox and Broz) were recently listed among the Top 20 Players to Watch in C-USA this season by Topdrawersoccer.com.
In its lone exhibition match, the Pirates' tied former Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) foe Virginia Commonwealth, 1-1, on Aug. 13. Tricia Tufts netted the Pirates' only goal in the 38th minute of play and that lead stood for the duration of regulation, but VCU scored the equalizer in the second 10-minute pre-determined overtime period (103rd minute).
After Friday's game, ECU returns to Greenville to open its home slate Sunday, Aug. 22 with a 2 p.m. start against Francis Marion at the North Campus Recreation Complex. ECU owns a 3-0-1 all-time record and has outscored the Patriots 10-1 in four matches.
