Pirates Return Home To Host No. 17 SMU

Match 11: No. 17 SMU (6-1-0, 0-0-0 AAC) at East Carolina (4-6-0, 0-1-0 AAC)
Date	Thursday, September 23
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. – Returning home after a four-match road swing, the East Carolina soccer team takes on SMU on Thursday night in Johnson Stadium.

"This is a big game for us, we have to be ready to defend our home turf," said Head Soccer Coach Jason Hamilton. "You have to give SMU a lot of credit, they are finding ways to win right now, it's kind of the opposite of us."

ECU (4-6-0, 0-1-0 AAC) is coming off a pair of heartbreaking overtime losses. The Pirates took the defending AAC champion South Florida Bulls to the brink before losing 3-2 in overtime. East Carolina took the lead through a wonder goal by Haley McWhirter before South Florida tied the game in the 84th minute. However, the Pirates retook the lead in the 87th minute when Tori Riggs scored an incredible goal of her own, but South Florida got a goal of its own in the 89th minute before scoring the game-winning goal in the 94th minute. The following game at James Madison once again went to overtime with the Dukes scoring a game-winning goal of their own with just 29 seconds remaining in the second overtime. The losses dropped East Carolina to 1-5-0 on the road this season.

"We are coming off three games on the road that we let slip away," Hamilton said. "Now we have to refocus and put all of our energy into this one game on the weekend. We know we are a much more talented group than the past few years, but we have to have a little more fight in us."

McWhirter had one of her best weeks of her short collegiate career last week. The rookie from Magnolia, Texas had the wonderful individual goal against the Bulls that reached No. 3 on the SportsCenter Top 10. She followed it up by leading the Pirate offense with six shots against James Madison, including five on goal. Along with McWhirter, Riggs, Kim Sanford and Peyton Godbey all lead the Pirates with two goals while Samantha Moxie has a team-high two assists to go with one goal. The Pirates have not only seen their 13 goals come from nine different goal scorers, but East Carolina has also scored from all over the field. The Pirates have scored eight of their goals inside the penalty area and five goals from outside the 18-yard box.

SMU (6-1-0, 0-0-0 AAC) comes into the game on a five-match winning streak that has pushed the Mustangs to the No. 17 ranking in the national top-25, a stretch that has been carried by the team's defense. The Mustangs have allowed just two goals in those five matches, all of which came in a 4-2 win over Denver to start the streak. SMU has not allowed a goal in the past four matches despite being outshot in each of those contests. The Mustang offense has been led by Courtney Sebazco who has three goals and two assists and was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 13 as well as earning a spot on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Aug. 23. Wayny Balata was the only Mustang to be named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference Team and despite missing a pair of games, Balata has two goals and two assists this year. On the defensive end, Payton Doiron was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 13 after scoring the game-winning goal against Oklahoma State. In the goal, Tatum Sutherland has played in the past four games, starting three of them, and has won back-to-back AAC Goalkeeper of the Week awards. Along with Sutherland, Samantha Estrada has started four games between the posts and the pairing has combined for 34 saves, a .895 save percentage and a goals against average of 0.56.

SMU holds an 8-6-3 all-time record against East Carolina, but the Pirates have held the edge since Hamilton arrived prior to the 2018 season. The Pirates won 2-1 in the 2018 regular season and then when the two teams met again in that year's AAC Championship Opening Round, East Carolina advanced on penalty kicks. The Mustangs got a measure of revenge with a 4-0 home win in 2019, but the Pirates took a 3-2 overtime road win in the spring of 2021. The Pirates are much better at home against SMU, going 3-1-1 against the Mustangs in Greenville. It will also be the third match this season for ECU against a top-25 opponent. ECU is 0-2-0 this season against ranked teams and 0-8-2 against top-25 opponents under Hamilton.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., on Thursday evening in Johnson Stadium with admission free for all fans. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Zach Berly on the call and fans can also follow the live stats.

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Players Mentioned

Peyton Godbey

Haley McWhirter

Samantha Moxie

Tori Riggs

Kim Sanford

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