Gameday: Pirates Finish Road Trip At Temple

Game 11: ECU (4-5-1, 1-0-0) at Temple (2-5-1, 0-1-0)
Date	Sunday, September 29
Time	1:00 p.m. (EDT)
Location	Philadelphia, Pa. (Temple Sports Complex)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Live Video
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUwsoccer Instagram: @ECUwsoccer Facebook: @ECUwsoccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After starting the conference slate with a win, the ECU soccer team will travel to Temple for a Sunday afternoon contest.

"We want to try to build off of the last game heading into the match with Temple," said head coach Jason Hamilton. "Both teams are in similar situations, lacking depth due to some injuries. We know they are going to come out and fight, not wanting to drop two games on a home weekend."

ECU (4-5-1) won its AAC opener for the first time since 2015 when the Pirates traveled to Connecticut and left with a 1-0 victory. Jenna Dages scored the game-winning goal and now leads the team with three goals and one assist for seven points. Daria Draovitch provided the assist on Dages' goal and is now tied with Tori Riggs and Marianna Shurina for the team lead in assists, as the trio each have two helpers. In goal, Melanie Stiles made three saves against the Huskies to help ECU compete its fourth shutout of the season. Stiles now has 39 saves and a save percentage of .736.

"This game can come down to mentality," Hamilton said. "Sunday conference games are pretty brutal. We have to find a way to fight through the fatigue and give it everything we've got."

Temple is just 2-5-1 on the season and the Owls dropped their first conference match 2-0 against Cincinnati. Temple has won just once in its past eight games and is 1-2-1 at home. Gabriela Johnson leads th Owls with two goals and two assists while Emma Wilkins has a pair of goals and one helper. The pair each have a game-winning goal for Temple. In goal, Morgan Basileo has played every minute for the Owls, making 71 saves and a .807 save percentage.

ECU has had the upper hand in the series between the two schools, going 3-1-1 against Temple including a 1-0 win last season. Copley scored the game-winning goal in that matchup. However, ECU is just 0-1-1 when playing at Temple, losing 1-0 in 2017 and tying 0-0 in 2015. With a victory against the Owls, ECU would be 2-0 in AAC play for the first time in program history and would start 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2012 season when the Pirates played in Conference USA. It would also be just the third time since joining the conference that ECU has won both games in a weekend and the first time it would occur on the road.

"We have to take advantage of being on the positive end of the weekend and we have a really good opportunity here to get what would be bonus points on a road trip and a great start to AAC play," Hamilton added.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., at the Temple Sports Complex. Fans can stream the match here or follow the live stats here.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Dages

Daria Draovitch

Tori Riggs

Marianna Shurina

Melanie Stiles

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