Gameday: ECU Hosts Temple In Pivotal AAC Match

Game 15: Temple (6-7-1, 2-2-1) at ECU (7-5-2, 2-4-0)
Date	Sunday, October 14
Time	1:00 p.m. (EDT)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (Johnson Stadium)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Watch
Promotions	Tickets \| Promotions
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUwsoccer Instagram: @ECUwsoccer Facebook: @ECUwsoccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Only three games remain in the regular season for the ECU women's soccer team with the first being a home date against Temple on Sunday afternoon in Johnson Stadium.
"Temple is playing very well right now with two good results in their last two games," said head coach Jason Hamilton. "Things are getting tighter in the conference and everyone knows how important each result is."

ECU (7-5-2, 2-4-0) will have not played in a week after its Thursday night match was postponed due to Hurricane Michael. The Pirates are coming off a 1-1 road trip through Florida. The Pirates had been 0-2-2 in their first four overtime games of the season, but finally broke through when they beat UCF 2-1 to open the road trip. ECU was trailing with less than 15 minutes remaining, but a goal from Madie Knaggs helped send the game to the extra period where Jenna Dages scored to secure the win. It was ECU's first win at UCF, having been 0-6-1 there previously.

The road trip finished with a 4-0 loss to USF, the first time ECU has been shutout this season. The 13 straight games with at least one goal tied the longest scoring streak to open a season in school history, joining the 1999 team. Leading the way in scoring are Dages and Courtney Cash, who have six and five goals respectively. Dages is tied for second in the conference with a trio of game-winning goals while ECU's leader in assists, Daria Draovitch, is tied for sixth in the league with four helpers.

"It comes down to who wants it more and who brings more energy," Hamilton said. "That is an area we lacked a bit in our last game and we hope to bounce back from."

Temple is in the playoff hunt as the Owls have a 2-2-1 conference record and are 6-7-1 overall. Temple traveled to Cincinnati and left with an important 2-2 tie that put the Owls in the sixth and final conference playoff spot with seven points. Emma Wilkins leads Temple in scoring with six goals while Gabriela Johnson has five goals and one assist. Morgan Basileo has started 13 games in goal for the Owls and has a 0.828 save percentage and a 1.25 goals against average.

The Pirates lead the all-time series against Temple 2-1-1. Last season, the Owls got their first win over ECU, taking a 1-0 home contest. ECU is 2-0 when Temple comes to Johnson Stadium, winning 2-1 in 2016 and 2-0 in 2014.

"There are a lot of things in our favor, including being at home, only having one game this weekend and Temple having to have played the extra 20 minutes against Cincinnati," Hamilton added. "We have to take advantage of those things and this opportunity to keep ourselves in the hunt for the conference tournament."

Kickoff for Sunday afternoon's game is scheduled for 1 p.m., in Johnson Stadium. Fans can buy tickets here.

Players Mentioned

Courtney Cash

Jenna Dages

Daria Draovitch

Madie Knaggs

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