East Carolina University
(10) Connecticut
East Carolina's Season Ends In AAC First Round
November 03, 2015 | Soccer
Box Score | Box Score 
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Highlights
DALLAS - East Carolina saw its season come to a close in a 3-1 loss to top-seeded and 10th-ranked UConn in the first round of the 2015 American Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship on Tuesday afternoon at Westcott Field on the campus of SMU.
Connecticut (17-2) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, taking a 1-0 lead in the second minute of the match. The Huskies fired a shot from just beyond the Pirates' goal box, but the attempt was blocked by a defender. The American's Co-Offensive-Player-of-the-Year Rachel Hill collected the rebound and touched a soft shot past goalkeeper Saundra Baron just 1:42 into the game.
Seeded eighth in the tournament, East Carolina (8-10-2) did not back down however and began to show a sense of urgency in search of a response. The Pirates found an equalizer exactly 16 minutes after surrendering the first goal when they earned their first corner kick of the afternoon. Senior Stephanie Seagrave sent an easy pass into the box on the corner kick that found junior Autumn Berry, who beat one defender before hammering a shot into the roof of the net to tie the match, 1-1.
The goal was Berry's first of the season and second of her career. The Woodbridge, Va., native's first-career score came in a three-point performance in a victory at Francis Marion on Sept. 1, 2014. The assist was Seagrave's second in as many games and her 25th-career point.
The Huskies cashed in on what appeared to be an average scoring opportunity in the 39th minute when Maddie Damm crushed a perfect shot into the upper right corner of the net from approximately 30 yards out to put UConn back in front, 2-1, before the end of the first half.
At halftime, Connecticut held a 13-2 advantage in total shots and a 6-1 lead in shots on goal, while Baron made four saves in the period.
ECU earned a great opportunity to draw the match even once again just three minutes into the second half when Seagrave took a shot from approximately 10 yards out, but her attempt tailed just wide of the right goal post.
UConn countered with two close chances in the first 12 minutes of the period, but both were tipped away on acrobatic saves by Baron. The Huskies' third chance of the period came in the form of a corner kick from the near side in the 58th minute. Kim Urbanek sailed the corner kick across East Carolina's goal box and found a wide open Toriana Patterson who settled before passing beyond an outstretched Baron to Hill, who redirected the ball into the back of the net for her second goal of the match and make the score 3-1.
The Pirates were unable to close the gap for the remainder of the match, as Connecticut held on for the two-goal victory behind a 22-5 advantage in total shots, 10-1 lead in shots on goal and 6-5 edge in corner kick chances. Baron finished the match with seven saves.
