ECU Soccer Hosts Houston Thursday Night
October 15, 2014 | Soccer
ECU Game Notes 
| American Conference Notes
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's soccer team will host Houston in an American Athletic Conference match Thursday, Oct. 16 at Johnson Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The contest will be the first of the Pirates' final two regular-season home games, before they welcome SMU on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 2 p.m., for Senior Day. A ceremony recognizing this year's seniors will be held at the conclusion of the match.
The first 200 students will receive a FREE pair of sunglasses. A Throwback Thursday event, fans can enjoy a mix of music from the 80's and 90's, as well as a halftime slideshow of throwback pictures of the East Carolina soccer program. It is also Optimist Club Soccer Day, as members of Optimist Club Soccer of Washington can receive $2 admission and partake in halftime events. There will also be a Student Pirate Club pre-match event in the stadium parking lot.
In addition to East Carolina's (8-5-1, 2-3-0 American) strong defensive and goalkeeper play, the keys to victory this season have been scoring in the first half and taking more shots than its opponents. When scoring within the first 45 minutes of play the Pirates are 6-0 overall, and when they have more shots than the opposition, own a 6-0-1 mark.
VERSUS HOUSTON
ECU is 8-2 all-time against the Cougars, as the Pirates won, 3-0, at Houston in their last meeting during the 2012 campaign when both programs were members of Conference USA.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
The Cougars have not scored a goal in any of their last three matches. They own a 0-2-1 record during that span. Houston (1-6-5, 0-4-1 American) is led by Lexa Green, who owns team highs in goals (4), points (9) and shots taken (21). Junior goalkeeper Jordan Brown, in her first season with the Cougars, leads the American Conference in saves (62) and saves per game (5.17).
SEASON OF SHUTOUTS
ECU has posted nine shutouts so far in 2014, which ranks tied for third in program history with the 2008 squad. Only the 2012 (10) and 2007 (11) teams held more opponents scoreless in a single season.
SPITLER'S SCORING SPREE
Sophomore striker Lana Spitler scored four goals in East Carolina's first fourAmerican Athletic Conference matches including two tallies against Temple on Sept. 28. The two scores marked her first-career multi-goal game and she was chosen as the league's Offensive Player-of-the-Week.
LENNS GETS THE CALL
Senior and backup goalkeeper Erika Lenns earned her first-career start and posted a four-save shutout versus Campbell on Sept. 21. She followed that up with a career-high seven saves against UConn on Sept. 25 before shutting out Temple on Sept. 28. Her efforts were honored when she was named the American Athletic Conference Goalkeeper-of-the-Week on Sept. 29.
ROAD BLOCKING
East Carolina recorded a five-match winning streak, including four-straight on the road at Western Carolina (8/24), George Mason (8/29), Francis Marion (9/1) and UNC Greensboro 9/12). The last time the Pirates won five-straight games via shutout was in 1999.
BARON'S BARREN NET
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Saundra Baron posted five-straight shutouts, at Western Carolina (8/24), at George Mason (8/29), at Francis Marion (9/1), home versus Davidson (9/5) and at UNC Greensboro (9/12). She is the first ECU goalkeeper since Amber Campbell in 2007 to accomplish the feat and held opponents scoreless for a span of 505 minutes and 20 seconds. She has six total shutouts so far this season.
HERRING COMES UP HUGE
Senior midfielder Lexi Herring intercepted a goal kick in the 69th minute and beat the goalkeeper for her first-career game-winning goal at UNC Greensboro (9/12). She later notched her first-career assist on a go-ahead goal versus UConn (9/25).
SO FARY, SO GOOD
Freshman striker Brittany Fary started each of the team's first 13 matches in 2014. The Centreville, Va., native scored her first-career goal in the 6-0 win at Francis Marion on Sept. 1 , earning her American Athletic Conference Rookie-of-the-Week honors.
