Pirates Descend Upon Tampa, Meet USF In American Conference Semis
November 06, 2014 | Soccer
ECU Game Notes 
| American Conference Notes | Championship Program
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - After upsetting second-seeded Memphis on its home field in last Sunday's quarterfinals, East Carolina will play its second straight road match in the 2014 American Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship when it travels to Tampa, Fla., on Friday, Nov. 7, for a semifinal battle against third-seeded USF.
Opening kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., at Corbett Stadium and will be broadcast online by The American Digital Network. Access to the live stream is free of charge and available on desktop, mobile, tablet and Roku devices.
With a victory, East Carolina (12-7-1) will advance to Sunday's championship match at 11 a.m., which will be televised nationally on ESPNU against the winner of top-seeded UCF and No. 4 seed UConn. The Pirates' last trip to a conference championship match came during the 2008 season as members of Conference USA.
SEASON OF SHUTOUTS
ECU has posted 11 shutouts thus far in 2014, which is tied for with the 2007 team for the most in a single season in school history.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS
With its 2-0 win over SMU on Sunday, Oct. 19, ECU recorded its 10th victory of the season, marking the 11th overall time in program history the Pirates have reached double-digit wins.
Déjà vu
Kendall Frey is no stranger to scoring golden goals, as she proved in the 2-1 overtime upset of No. 2 seed Memphis in the American Conference quarterfinals (11/2). Frey also put home a golden goal just under six minutes into East Carolina's Conference USA quarterfinal victory over UTEP during the 2013 season
FREY SCORING FRENZY
On three different occasions, forward Kendall Frey has scored goals in back-to-back games. The Chester Springs, Pa., native tallied what turned out to be the game-winner with the second of ECU's three goals in a 3-1 win over Houston in the first round of the American Conference Championship on Oct. 31, before heading home two more in the 2-1 overtime upset of second-seeded Memphis two days later. She also netted the game-winner against Houston (10/16), before scoring again just three days later against SMU (10/19). Frey scored a goal in each game of ECU's back-to-back wins at George Mason (8/29) and Francis Marion (9/1). She followed that up with a career-high four-shot night and assisted on both goals in a 2-0 win against Davidson (9/5).
THOMAS TIME
Senior midfielder/forward Brett Thomas, who has never started a match during her four seasons, made her presence felt as a reserve in the Pirates' first two American Conference tournament matches. She assisted Kendall Frey on the second goal (game-winner) of the 3-1 win over Houston (10/31) in the first round, before sending in the final pass to Frey once more on the golden goal in the 2-1 overtime upset of second-seeded Memphis (11/2) in the quarterfinals.
LOOKING INTO LENNS
Senior goalkeeper Erika Lenns has been named the American Athletic Conference Goalkeeper-of-the-Week twice this season, with the most recent recognition coming on Oct. 20 after posting back-to-back four-save shutouts in conference victories over Houston and SMU. Following a career-high seven saves against UConn on Sept. 25 and a two-save blanking of Temple on Sept. 28, she earned her first weekly nod of her career.
SPITLER'S SCORING SPREE
Sophomore striker Lana Spitler has scored six goals in 11 matches versus American Athletic Conference opponents this season. She scored four times in East Carolina's first four league contests, including two tallies against Temple on Sept. 28. The two scores marked her first-career multi-goal game and she was chosen as The American's Offensive Player-of-the-Week.
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.
