Soccer Ranked No. 10 In NSCAA Central Regional Poll
September 13, 2011 | Soccer
Sept. 13, 2011
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Following a 2-2 double-overtime tie against No. 21 William & Mary on Sunday, the East Carolina soccer team is ranked No. 10 in the Central Region, according to a release late Monday by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The Pirates are one of four teams from Conference USA to be ranked in the Central Region this week.
Through six games, the Pirates own a 4-1-1 ledger and have not lost in their last five matches - the longest streak since the 2008 club's 13-game stretch where the went 9-0-4. Senior Kimmy Cummings is just one of several offensive weapons that head coach Rob Donnenwirth has at his disposal. Cummings leads C-USA in goals (5), goals per game (0.83), points (12) and points per game (2.00), while also ranking among the league leaders in shots per game (6th/3.17), assists (7th/2), assists per game (7th/0.33) and shots (8th/19). The Mechanicsville, Va. native recorded her first career hat trick in a 4-1 win over Old Dominion on Aug. 21 and has collected at least one point in four of her last five matches.
Joining in on the scoring action this season has been junior Caty Butler, who is second on the squad in goals (4) and in points (9). Back on Aug. 29 she was named C-USA Offensive-Player-of-the-Week after scoring a career-best two goals against instate rival UNC Wilmington in a 2-0 victory. Seniors Leah Bagonis and Amanda Malkiewicz along with true freshman Mackenzie Semerad have combined to score two goals and dish out eight of ECU's league-leading 16 assists.
On defense for the Pirates, sophomore keeper Christiane Cordero has started all six matches logging 550 minutes in goal. Cordero, who is tied for fourth in C-USA with 27 saves, has allowed nine goals and sports a .750 save percentage. Against the nationally ranked Tribe she stopped a season-best nine shots in 110 minutes of action.
In the Central Region, Oklahoma State of the Big 12 Conference is the top-ranked team, while C-USA member Memphis is second. Also representing C-USA in the rankings are UCF (third) and Rice (eighth).
ECU returns to action Sunday, Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. (ET) when they travel to Florence, S.C. for its last non-conference match of the season against Francis Marion. The Pirates have never dropped a match to the Patriots posting a 4-0-1 all-time record.
