ECU Heads to Liberty for Exhibition

Exhibition 1: East Carolina (8-9-2 in 2021) at Liberty (11-6-1 in 2021)
Date	Wednesday, August 10
Time	5:00 p.m. (EDT)
Location	Lynchburg, Va. (Osborne Stadium)
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUsoc Instagram: @ECUSoc Facebook: ECU Soccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Eight days out from a season-opening tilt against the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils, the East Carolina soccer team will get its first tune-up for the 2022 season as they take on the Liberty Flames in an exhibition match on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Osborne Stadium in Lynchburg, Va.

"We are very excited to hit the road for our first exhibition game tomorrow at Liberty University," said Head Coach Gary Higgins. "The team has been working hard during pre-season and we are all ready to test ourselves against some good opposition.

"It will be a great opportunity for us to work on our attacking and defensive organization, and for many players to get some valuable minutes under their belt. We are very excited to kick off the fall 2022 season, and we are all determined to make Pirate Nation proud."

Coming Back
Despite the loss of AAC Rookie of the Year and 2021 leading scorer Haley McWhirter, the Pirates return four of their top six point scorers from last year's squad. Samantha Moxie, Morgan Dewey, Brooke Burzynski and Peyton Godbey accounted for 21 points on seven goals and seven assists during the 2021 campaign.

The ECU defense will be looking to replace the veteran leadership of three-time AAC Second-Team All-Conference honoree Kim Sanford. That starts with the return of Maeve English in goal for a third straight season as the starting keeper for the Pirates. In 2021, English recorded 1,781 minutes played as she started all 19 games, making 77 saves and notching four shutouts. English will be joined by Abby Sowa who accounted for the third most minutes played last season, behind only English and Sanford, as well as Dewey who played the fourth.

The 2022 squad will feature eight newcomers, including seven true freshmen. Among the newcomers, and a notable absence on the pitch for the Pirates will be Isabella Gutierrez who is busy competing for her home nation of Mexico in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, taking place Aug. 10-27 in Costa Rica.

Know Your Opponent
The Pirates and the Flames have met in the regular season six times before, most recently in 2003. ECU holds a 4-2-0 advantage in those previous matchups.

Liberty enters 2022 following an 11-7-1 fall campaign in 2021. The Flames went 6-3-0 in conference play before ending their season at the hands of Eastern Kentucky in the ASUN Quarterfinals. From that team, two of the top five point scorers will be returning in Meredith King and Rebekah Earnest. The Flames will also find a new starting keeper as Randi Palacios and her 1,575 minutes played in 2021 departs to graduation.

In 2021 for Liberty, when it rained it poured, and that tended to decide the results. In 11 victories, they totaled 34 goals, or just over three per game. In their six losses and one tie, the Flames managed only one tally, in a 2-1 loss against VCU. Conversely, the Liberty defense only allowed 15 goals in totality last season, including seven shutouts.

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Players Mentioned

Brooke Burzynski

Morgan Dewey

Maeve English

Peyton Godbey

Haley McWhirter

Samantha Moxie

Kim Sanford

Abby Sowa

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