Pirates Head To No. 5 Duke

Match 7: East Carolina (4-2-0) at No. 5 Duke (5-0-0)
Date	Thursday, September 9
Time	7 p.m. (EDT)
Location	Durham, N.C. (Koskinen Stadium)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Live Video \| ECU Match Notes
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUsoc Instagram: @ECUSoc Facebook: @ECUwsoccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Riding a three-match winning streak, the East Carolina soccer team will have a tall task as the Pirates travel to No. 5 Duke on Thursday evening.

"Duke is playing great right now, I think they are a team that will be in the College Cup at the end of the year," said Head Soccer Coach Jason Hamilton. "This is a great opportunity for us to play a top opponent in a loud environment and prepare us for conference play next week."

ECU (4-2-0) has won three straight matches for the first time since the 2018 campaign and the Pirates have done it on the back of their defense. In wins over High Point, Campbell and VCU, East Carolina allowed just a single goal which came via an unlucky bounce that resulted in an own goal. The Pirates defense has allowed just 5.7 shots per game in the three victories and has won the possession battle in each of them. The defense has been led by Kim Sanford, who was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in her career. Not only did Sanford play all 180 minutes against Campbell and VCU, she also scored the game-winning goal in each match, the first time in her career she has scored in consecutive games.

Along with Sanford, the Pirate defense has gotten impressive performances from Abby Sowa, Addison Salz and Morgan Dewey. Sowa and Salz both played all 270 minutes of the three-match winning streak, with Sowa contributing her first collegiate assist on Sanford's game-winning goal against Campbell. Dewey has done a great job of delivering set pieces into dangerous areas as well as playing excellent defense. It was Dewey's free kick delivery that eventually led to Sanford's goal against Campbell and the Johns Creek, Ga., native got her first assist of the season when she found Sanford off a corner kick with Sanford scoring on a header. Behind that defensive line, Maeve English has continued to be steady in the goal, ranking second in the American in shutouts (2) and fourth in the league in saves (21), save percentage (0.778) and goals against average (1.01).

Duke (5-0-0) is coming off an appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals during the 2020-21 season and the Blue Devils are off to a roaring start this season, already beating three ranked teams. Duke has been led by freshman Michelle Cooper, who is eighth in the country in goals per game, scoring 1.00 goal each match. Mackenzie Pluck and Tess Boade have also racked up the offense for Duke, with Pluck bagging three goals and an assist while Boade has a pair of game-winning goals and two helpers. In the goal, Ruthie Jones has started all five matches and has allowed just 0.67 goals per game while recording a save percentage of .786. The Blue Devils are coached by Robbie Church who coached the men's soccer team at East Carolina in 1982 and 1983.

It will be the first ever meeting between Duke and East Carolina. The Pirates have struggled against current ACC teams, going just 7-20-6 all-time. ECU last played Virginia and NC State during the 2019 campaign, with a 4-0 loss to No. 6 Virginia being the last time the Pirates have played a team ranked inside the top-10. The last road result against an ACC team for ECU was when the Pirates tied then-No. 16 NC State 1-1 in 2018, the third game in charge for Hamilton. The last win over an ACC squad was a 1-0 win over the Wolfpack in September 2010. The Blue Devils will be the second ranked squad the Pirates take on this season, with ECU holding an 0-7-2 record against ranked teams under Hamilton after falling to No. 10 South Carolina 3-1.

"You have to play teams better than you in order to grow and that is exactly what we want to do as a program," Hamilton added. "This game will challenge us as a group to make changes needed once the game starts to problem solve and figure things out, that is what I am most excited for. Games like this show you areas where you need to grow. The good thing is wins and losses are not given out before the game starts, so our ladies know they need to go out and execute our game plan, compete for every play and enjoy the moment that they are in."

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., at Duke's Koskinen Stadium and the match will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

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Players Mentioned

Morgan Dewey

Maeve English

Addison Salz

Kim Sanford

Abby Sowa

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