ECU Hosts No. 10 South Carolina

Match 3: No. 10 South Carolina (1-0-0) at East Carolina (1-1-0)
Date	Thursday, August 26
Time	7:05 p.m. (EDT)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (Johnson Stadium)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Live Video \| ECU Match Notes
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUsoc Instagram: @ECUSoc Facebook: @ECUwsoccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After a 1-1-0 opening weekend, the East Carolina soccer team will have its biggest test of the young season, hosting No. 10 South Carolina on Thursday evening.

"We are very excited to be hosting South Carolina," said Head Soccer Coach Jason Hamilton. "This is a great opportunity for our team as young as we are. South Carolina is one of the best coached teams in the country, and year in and year out are a top program."

In just two games this season, the Pirates have already shown off their impressive depth. 17 different players have made at least one start and 26 different players have earned minutes. That number includes seven different players making their first career starts and four of the five East. Carolina goal scorers grabbing their first collegiate goals, as Peyton Godbey got her first tally at Old Dominion. On the defensive end, Abby Sowa and Molly Thomas made their first career starts against VMI, with Sowa playing the full 90 minutes, while Godbey has started both on the offensive end (at Old Dominion) and as a center back (vs. VMI). In the goal, Maeve English has made five saves in 176 minutes of action and played the first 80 minutes against VMI before Meaghan Haley relieved her for the final 10 minutes to complete ECU's first shutout of the season.

"This game begins a very tough stretch for us over the next few weeks and will be incredible preparation for us leading into conference play at the end of September," Hamilton said. "Playing great opponents this early in the year is a great way to gauge where we are and expose things that we need to fix before AAC play."

South Carolina (1-0-0) started its season a few days later than expected, as the Gamecocks had the planned opener against The Citadel postponed. After the delay, South Carolina got its season underway with a 3-0 win at College of Charleston. The Gamecocks scored a pair of first-half goals within seven minutes of each other, the first by Claire Griffiths and the second by Sutton Jones while Jyllissa Harris added a penalty kick in the second half. South Carolina is coming off a 2020-21 season that saw the Gamecocks finish atop the SEC East and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Along with Harris, Lauren Chang and top scorer Catherine Berry return after being named to the 2020 United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region selections. The Gamecocks also return two goalkeepers and three defenders from a backline that allowed just 14 goals in 16 games.

South Carolina has dominated the all-time series between the two schools, winning all six matchups. The last time the two schools met was in 2014 with then-No. 14 South Carolina coming to Greenville and taking a 2-0 win. The two teams also met in Greenville in 2011 with No. 19 South Carolina winning 4-0. The Gamecocks have been a big draw, with two of the top-four crowds in Johnson Stadium history coming on those two visits. 883 fans came out to the 2014 matchup, ranking third in Johnson's history while 853 attended the game in 2011, which was the first game in Johnson Stadium history.

The Pirates are still looking for their first ranked win under Hamilton, holding a 0-6-2 record against ranked opponents since the start of the 2018 season. The Pirates tied No. 16 NC State on the road in 2018 and tied No. 8 Memphis at home in 2019. East Carolina went 0-3 against ranked squads last spring, but only one of those matches came at home, a 1-0 loss to No. 17 USF. The Pirates also lost consecutive 1-0 road matches at No. 19 Memphis and No. 15 USF to close out the season.

Kickoff for Thursday's game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., inside Johnson Stadium and will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Evan Budrovich on the call. Admission to Johnson Stadium is free for all fans, with the first 300 fans at the game getting free t-shirts and the first 100 students getting free pizza.

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Players Mentioned

Maeve English

Peyton Godbey

Meaghan Haley

Abby Sowa

Molly Thomas

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