Pirates Finish Road Swing At James Madison

Match 10: East Carolina (4-5-0, 0-1-0 AAC) at James Madison (2-5-1)
Date	Sunday, Sept. 19
Time	1 p.m. (EDT)
Location	Harrisonburg, Va. (Sentara Park)
Coverage	Live Stats
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUsoc Instagram: @ECUSoc Facebook: @ECUwsoccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After falling in overtime in the AAC opener, the East Carolina soccer team will return to nonconference play as the Pirates travel to James Madison on Sunday afternoon.

East Carolina (4-5-0, 0-1-0) lost its conference opener, but there were encouraging signs for the Pirates in the 3-2 overtime loss at defending AAC champion South Florida. Haley McWhirter scored a long-range goal in the first half, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead that they took into the 83rd minute. Although the Bulls tied the game at 1-1, ECU answered when Tori Riggs scored a brilliant long-range shot of her own in the 87th minute to regain the lead, but USF answered in the 89th minute and then scored the game-winning goal in the 94th minute. It was the first time this season that the Pirates have lost after leading in the second-half, with East Carolina having been 4-0 in those situations.

McWhirter and Riggs join Kim Sanford and Peyton Godbey as the Pirates with multiple goals this season, as the quartet has each recorded two goals for four points apiece. Also on four points is Samantha Moxie, with Moxie getting an assist on Riggs' tally to give her a goal and a team-high two helpers this year. McWhirter continues to be the biggest threat to shoot for East Carolina, taking a team-high 27 shots this season, including a team-best eight on goal. On the other end, Maeve English has made 31 saves this season, with a save percentage of 0.674 and a goals against average of 1.67. The Pirate backline of Sanford, Addison Salz, Abby Sowa and Morgan Dewey is beginning to build chemistry, with the quartet all in the top-six of minutes played on the team, joined by English and McWhirter.

James Madison (2-5-1) will be playing the final nonconference game of the season and will be looking to head into the CAA portion of its schedule on a high note. The Dukes most recently lost to No. 15 West Virginia 2-1, dropping them to a 1-3-0 record at home. However, that record is deceptive as the three losses have come to the Mountaineers as well as ACC foes Virginia and Virginia Tech while the Dukes beat American 4-0. Hannah Coulling, Lexi Vanderlinden and Ebony Wiseman all have six points to lead James Madison, with Coulling racking up a team-best three goals while Vanderlinden and Wiseman each have a pair of goals and a pair of assists. In the goal, Alexandra Blom has started all eight games and she has a save percentage of .690 and a goals against average of 1.60 with two shutouts.

James Madison holds a 6-1-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools, but the Pirates and the Dukes have not met since 2016 and have played just twice since 2000. The two former CAA rivals have played at James Madison just twice, with the Dukes winning 1-0 in 2015 and 9-0 in 1995. It will be the second time this season East Carolina has battled a CAA opponent, with the Pirates falling 1-0 at William & Mary last Sunday.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., on Sunday afternoon. Fans can follow the live stats here.

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Players Mentioned

Morgan Dewey

Maeve English

Peyton Godbey

Haley McWhirter

Samantha Moxie

Tori Riggs

Addison Salz

Kim Sanford

Abby Sowa

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