Gameday: ECU Hosts NC State Thursday Night

Match 7: East Carolina vs. NC State
Date	Thursday, September 8
Time	7 p.m. (EST)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (Johnson Stadium)
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Watch Live
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUwsoccer Instagram: @ECUwsoccer Facebook: @ECUwsoccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's soccer team will return home Thursday, Sept. 8 to host NC State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., at Johnson Stadium.

PROMOTIONS
+ Paint It Purple: Fans are encouraged to wear purple to support the Pirates.
+ The first 100 fans receive a free custom ECU Soccer scarf.
+ A pair of student tickets to the sold out ECU vs. NC State football game will be raffled off during the match.
+ ECU Women's Lacrosse Head Coach Amanda Barnes will address the crowd at halftime.

THE OPENING ACT II
Thursday's women's soccer match falls just two days before East Carolina and NC State meet on the football field. The Pirates will host the Wolfpack on Saturday, Sept. 10 for a noon kickoff inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. This marks the second time thus far in 2016 that the ECU's women's soccer team will face the same opponent as its football program within a five-day span, after women's soccer defeated Western Carolina, 4-0, on Sunday, Aug. 28 in Cullowhee, before football toppled the Catamounts, 52-7, on Saturday, Sept. 3 in Greenville.

ALL-TIME VERSUS NC STATE
The Pirates will face the Wolfpack for just the sixth time overall and the first time since Sept. 10, 2010, when the purple and gold claimed a 1-0 home victory. ECU owns a 3-1-1 lead in the all-time series.

SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK
NC State (4-2) has won three-straight matches and outscored its opponents, 10-3, during that span. On Sunday, the Wolfpack earned a 2-0 victory at UNC Wilmington, following 4-2 and 4-1 home wins over High Point and Navy respectively. The Pack is led by junior striker Jackie Stengel's 11 points, comprising five goals and one assist, while Ricarda Walking has eight points on two goals and a club-best four assists.

CASH'S SCORING STREAK
Sophomore striker Courtney Cash has registered at least two points in each of East Carolina's last four games. The streak began with a goal at 18th-ranked Virginia Tech (Aug. 26) and was followed by a two-assist performance at Western Carolina (Aug. 28), a career-high three-points against James Madison (Sept. 2) and a goal at Old Dominion (Sept. 4).

SCORING UPTICK
The Pirates have scored 10 goals through their first six matches this season, despite needing 10 games to reach that total in 2015. Five different players have scored at least once for ECU this season.

SPITLER STRIKES TWICE
Lana Spitler scored two goals to complete her third-career multi-goal game in a 4-0 rout of Western Carolina on Aug. 28. She also scored twice in the same game at UNC Greensboro (9/6/15) and at home against Temple (9/28/14).

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Sophomore Madeleine Watson and freshman Megan Conte scored their first-collegiate goals in the Pirates' 4-0 road win at Western Carolina on Aug. 28, while sophomore forward Courtney Cash notched two assists - the first and second helpers of her career. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Caroline Jeffers had to make just one save to preserve her first shutout.

200 PROGRAM WINS
East Carolina women's soccer earned the 200th win in program history in a 4-0 victory at Western Carolina on Aug. 28. Since the inception of the program in 1994, the Pirates have averaged greater than nine victories per season. The winningest coach in program history, Rob Donnenwirth has led the Pirates to 168 of their 200 victories.

SPITLER NAMED PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Senior striker Lana Spitler was one of 12 players selected to the American Athletic Conference's 2016 Preseason Women's Soccer All-Conference Team. Spitler is ECU's top returning scorer after posting 16 points en route to earning all-conference second team honors in 2015. Her six goals tied for the team lead, while her four assists and two game-winning goals were good for second most on the club.

CAPTAINS HOOK
East Carolina's captains in 2016 are senior defenders Autumn Berry and Caitlin Hite, senior striker Lana Spitler and junior midfielder Danielle Eule.

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Players Mentioned

Autumn Berry

Courtney Cash

Megan Conte

Danielle Eule

Caitlin Hite

Caroline Jeffers

Lana Spitler

Madeleine Watson

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