ECU Opens C-USA Play At No. 23 UCF
September 23, 2010 | Soccer
Sept. 23, 2010
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's soccer team will hit the road for the second-straight weekend when they start Conference USA play at No. 23 UCF Friday at 7 p.m. before continuing their road swing on Sunday, Sept. 26 at Southern Miss with a 2 p.m. (EST) start scheduled.
The Pirates (5-3-0), who have won four of their last five matches, will face their second nationally-ranked opponent this season in the Knights (5-2-1). Back on August 27, ECU played host to No. 10 Wake Forest where they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Demon Deacons in Greenville.
ECU is coming off a 1-1-0 weekend against former Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) foes UNC Wilmington and William & Mary. The Pirates fell to the Seahawks 1-0 before rebounding against The Tribe, 2-1, where Jessica Woodward netted her first career game-winning goal in the 90th-minute of play.
UCF is also coming off an impressive win where they topped No. 19 Arizona State, 5-0, at the Cats Classic in Tucson, Ariz. Offensively the Knights are led by sophomore Tishia Jewell, who has 12 points (4G, 4A) and was named C-USA Co-Offensive-Player-of-the-Week (Sept. 20) after scoring a pair of goals and collecting an assist again the Sun Devils. Jewell also took home national honors for her playing being named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team-of-the-Week and the CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performers Player-of-the-Week squad.
Preseason C-USA Defensive Player-of-the-Year Aline Reis played Arizona to a 1-1 draw before notching her 15th career shutout for the Knights. The junior keeper totaled 14 saves over the weekend, including four in overtime periods and a save on a PK opportunity in the second half against Arizona. For her play at the Cats Classic, she was named defensive Tournament MVP and also took home her sixth career C-USA Defensive Player-of-the-Week honor on Sept. 21.
The Pirates will return home next week when they welcome SMU (Oct. 1 @ 4 p.m.) and Tulsa (Oct. 3 @ 3 p.m.) to the North Campus Recreation Complex. The Sunday match against the Golden Hurricane will be held in conjunction with the Second Annual Riley's Army Auction .
Inside the UCF Series: UCF leads, 5-0-2
Sept. 24, 2000, T, 0-0 (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Oct. 14, 2005, L, 3-1 (Away)
Oct. 13, 2006 - L, 2-1 (Home)
Oct. 7, 2007 - L, 1-0/2 OT (Away)
Nov. 7, 2007 - L, 2-0 (C-USA Tournament)
Oct. 5, 2008 - T, 1-1/2 OT (Away)
Oct. 4, 2009 - L, 2-0 (Home)
Inside the Southern Miss Series: ECU leads, 8-0-0
Sept. 30, 2001 - W, 2-1 (Away)
Sept. 21, 2003 - W, 4-0 (Home)
Oct. 17, 2004 - W, 2-1 (Home)
Oct. 16, 2005 - W, 2-1/2 OT (Away)
Oct. 15, 2006 - W, 2-0 (Home)
Oct. 5, 2007 - W, 2-1 (Away)
Oct. 3, 2008 - W, 2-0 (Away)
Oct. 2, 2009 - W, 3-1 (Home)
ECU vs. C-USA (Current Members): 32-23-11
vs. Colorado College: 2-2-1
vs. Houston: 6-1-0
vs. Marshall: 4-0-1
vs. Memphis: 0-7-2
vs. Rice: 3-2-0
vs. SMU: 2-3-1
vs. Southern Miss: 8-0-0
vs. Tulsa: 4-0-0
vs. UAB: 1-2-3
vs. UCF: 0-5-2
vs. UTEP: 2-1-1
Win Streak Stops At Three:
The Pirates' 1-0 loss to in-state rival and former Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) foe UNC Wilmington halted their win streak at three games on Sept. 16 ... Prior to the loss, ECU had picked up wins against ODU (3-2), Niagara (2-1/OT) and N.C. State (1-0) ... During the streak, the Pirates outscored their opponents six goals to three.
ECU Against Nationally-Ranked Teams:
Friday's match at UCF will mark the second time this season ECU has faced a nationally-ranked team on the pitch ... On Aug. 27, they hosted No. 10 Wake Forest at the North Campus Recreation Complex where they dropped a 2-1 contest ... UCF enters Conference USA play with a 5-2-1 record and ranked No. 23 by Soccer America after defeating No. 19 Arizona State, 5-0 ... ECU will have a chance of facing its third ranked opponent of the season when they travel to No. 25 Memphis on Oct. 8.
ECU's Points Leader:
Amanda Malkiewicz leads the Pirates with nine points heading into Conference USA play ... The New Jersey native scored three points in ECU's last match when she netted her third goal of the season, the equalizer in the 24th minute of play against William & Mary, before she assisted on the game-winning score in the final minute of regulation ... In all, she has three assists - all of which have come on game-winner's (Niagara, N.C. State and William & Mary) ... Currently she ranks among C-USA leaders in assists (t-6th), assists per game (t-7th), points (t-8th) and goals (t-10th).
ECU in C-USA Opener's:
The Pirates will look to extend their current win streak to four games in C-USA opener's when they travel to No. 23 UCF on Sept. 24 ... ECU owns an 4-2-3 all-time record in league openers since joining the C-USA in 2001 ... Below is a closer look at the Pirates year-by-year when kicking off C-USA play:
Sept. 21, 2001 vs. TCU - W, 2-1
Sept. 20, 2002 at TCU - T, 1-1
Sept. 19, 2003 at USF - T, 1-1
Sept. 24, 2004 at Charlotte - L, 2-0
Sept. 30, 2005 at Rice - L, 3-0
Sept. 29, 2006 at Memphis - T, 1-1
Oct. 5, 2007 at Southern Miss - W, 2-1
Sept. 26, 2008 at Rice - W, 2-0
Sept. 25, 2009 vs. Rice - W, 1-0
Spreading The Love:
Eight different players have netted goals on the season with Chrissy Gratz and Amanda Malkiewicz leading the way with three scores each ... Jessica Woodward ranks third on the squad with two goals after netting her first career game-winner against William & Mary (Sept. 19) in the final minute of regulation in ECU's 2-1 victory ... The Pirates have dished out 10 assists on their 13 goals, seven coming from different players.
Gratz Has Three Game-Winning Goals:
Sophomore Chrissy Gratz has three game-winning goals (Francis Marion, ODU and N.C. State) on the season, which is currently tied for second in Conference USA ... Gratz is also tied for 10th in goals, while ranking among the league leaders in goals per game, points and points per game.
Cordero Records First Career Shutout:
Christiane Cordero recorded her first career shutout against in-state rival N.C. State on Sept. 10 ... The redshirt freshman logged a career-best 11 saves, which ranks as the second-most in C-USA this season, in 90-minutes of work ... Currently Cordero is tied for second in saves (37) and saves per game (4.62 pg), while ranking among the league leaders in GAA (1.27/t-7th), save percentage (.787/t-7th) and shutouts (1/t-8th) ... She boasts a 5-3 overall record in eight starts.
Streaks Extended:
Four Pirates extended their current starting streaks against last week against William & Mary ... Junior's Amanda Malkiewicz and Jessica Woodward pushed their consecutive starting streaks to 49 games, while Preseason All-Conference USA selection Bailey Wilcox extended hers to 27-straight matches dating back to the start of the 2009 campaign ... Two other players currently have streaks in double-digits heading into this weekend's action (Amanda Broz/ 16 and Candace Mowery/13) ... Stephanie Shaw's streak was snapped at 12 games vs. WFU.
First Career Starts:
Christiane Cordero (GK) and Kimmy Cummings (F) recorded their first career starts in the season opener against UNC Greensboro ... Cordero allowed two goals in 90-minutes of action in the box, while Cummings logged 53 minutes at the forward position ... Since the opening weekend both have started all eight games for the Pirates.
Collegiate Debuts:
Six Pirates have made their collegiate debuts through eight games in 2010 ... Cordero experienced action in the season opener posting her first collegiate start, while Brittany Batts (MF/1 G), Ashley James (F/3 G's), Katlin Povich (F/MF/1 G), Amanda Reynolds (D/MF/ 6 G's) and Anne Workman (MF/D/ 1 G) got on the field against Francis Marion in the home opener.
