GAMEDAY: ECU Opens 2017 Campaign Versus Dayton

Match 1: ECU vs. Dayton
Date	Friday, Aug. 28
Time	7 p.m. (EDT)
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 soccer team is set to open its 2017 campaign Friday night when the Pirates welcome the Dayton Flyers to Johnson Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday night's match marks the first home contest of the year for ECU and the first meeting between the two squads in program history.

The first 150 students in attendance will receive a free t-shirt while the Student Pirate Club will have a t-shirt pick-up location on the concourse.

ECU returns 15 letterwinners from the 2016 squad that went 5-12-1 overall and 1-7-1 in the American Athletic Conference. Despite graduating the team's leading scorer from last season, East Carolina returns Annah Lindberg, Courtney Cash and Marianna Shurina who combined for 11 goals and four assists last year. Jayda Hylton-Pelaia returns for her sophomore campaign after earning AAC All-Rookie honors. During the offseason, 19th-year head coach Rob Donnenwirth added 14 newcomers from six different states and three countries. Among the new additions is goalkeeper Michelle Newhouse, a graduate student who helped West Virginia reach the 2016 national title match.

Dayton finished 9-10-3 overall, including a 4-4-2 Atlantic 10 Conference slate, and won a league-record 10th tournament championship earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Flyers' season came to an end in the first round of the tournament with a 3-2 loss at Ohio State in the first round. UD returns Alexis Kiehl who lead the squad with 21 goals and six assists in 2016 and Micayla Livingston who was third on the team in points with two goals and six assists. Junior goalkeeper Kaelyn Johns also returns after posting a 9-10-3 record in net with a 1.18 goals against average. Head Coach Eric Golz enters his first season at Dayton after replacing Mike Tucker who retired following the 2016 campaign after leading the Flyers for 22 seasons.

Players Mentioned

Courtney Cash

Jayda Hylton-Pelaia

Annah Lindberg

Michelle Newhouse

Marianna Shurina

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