Pirates Take On SMU

Game 7: East Carolina (1-3-2, 1-1-2) at SMU (1-0-0, 1-0-0)
Date	Sunday, March 21
Time	1:00 p.m. (EDT)
Location	Dallas, Texas (Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Live Video
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUsoc Instagram: @ECUSoc Facebook: @ECUwsoccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Just four games remain in the regular season as the East Carolina soccer team head to Dallas, Texas to take on SMU on Sunday afternoon.

East Carolina (1-3-2, 1-1-2 AAC) currently controls its own destiny, sitting in the fourth and final AAC playoff spot with five points. The Pirates are coming off a hard-fought 1-1 draw at USF last Sunday. Madie Knaggs scored her second goal of the season off a cross from Tori Riggs. On the other end, Maeve English made seven saves in the goal for ECU, including three in the final 10 minutes of regulation and overtime. English was named the AAC Goalkeeper of the Week for her performance, the second time this season that she has earned the award. It is the fourth consecutive season and the sixth in seven years that ECU has had a player win AAC Goalkeeper of the Week.

Knaggs leads the Pirates with two goals this season while Carsen Parker and Morgan Dewey have added one goal apiece. Dewey has an assist to go with her goal and Annabelle Abbott and Riggs are the other Pirates with assists. Defensively, East Carolina has used the same backline for most of the season as English, Dewey, Parker, Maycie McDougal and AAC Preseason All-Conference selection Kim Sanford have all played at least 449 minutes.

SMU (1-0-0, 1-0-0 AAC) had to wait even longer than most teams to open its season, as the Mustangs have already had six matches cancelled or postponed this spring. SMU finally took the field on Wednesday night, beating Temple 3-1. Jewel Boland had a banner day for the Mustangs, scoring a pair of goals and assisting Wayny Balata for SMU's third tally. Boland and Balata, along with Celiana Torres and Courtney Sebazco, are the top four returning scorers for SMU, having combined for 11 goals and 18 assists in 2019. Samantha Estrada started in the goal for the Mustangs, making five saves in her first game action since 2018.

SMU has a slight 8-5-3 edge in the all-time series, with the two teams playing three times since 2018. East Carolina took a 2-1 win in the 2018 regular season, with Knaggs grabbing a goal in that contest. That was the first of two meetings in 2018, with ECU advancing past the Mustangs on penalty kicks in the AAC Championship First Round. Erin Mikalsen scored ECU's lone goal that day. In 2019, the Mustangs raced out to a dominant 4-0 win. That victory gave ECU just a 1-5-0 record at Westcott Field in Dallas, the only victory coming in 2011.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., on Sunday afternoon and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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Players Mentioned

Annabelle Abbott

Morgan Dewey

Maeve English

Madie Knaggs

Maycie McDougal

Erin Mikalsen

Carsen Parker

Tori Riggs

Kim Sanford

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