Pirates Clinch AAC Tournament Berth with 1-0 Win at SMU

Thursday, October 19

Dallas, TX

8 PM

East Carolina University

9-3-4, 4-1-2

SMU

7-5-1, 3-3-1

Team	1	2	Final F
East Carolina	1	0	1
SMU	0	0	0

October 19, 2023 | Soccer

Box Score

DALLAS, Texas – The East Carolina soccer team downed the SMU Mustangs, 1-0, on Thursday night at Washburne Stadium. By virtue of the win and a UAB loss to Memphis, the Pirates officially clinched their spot in the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Pirates (9-3-4, 4-1-2 AAC) got the first goal of the game from the foot of Sydney Schnell, her team-leading fifth goal on the season. Schnell took a pass from Catherine Holbrook inside the 18-yard box, settled it and turned and fired a shot which beat the SMU (7-5-1, 3-3-1 AAC) keeper to the bottom left corner of the goal. The assist was Holbrook's fifth of the season, also a team lead.

Though they were outshot 7-4 in the opening 45, the Pirates held a 3-1 edge on shots on frame and took the 1-0 lead into the break.

The second half was a nervy example of weathering the storm and the Pirates did it well. SMU mustered 10 shots to none for ECU in the second 45 but a pair of saves by Maeve English and some quality team defense helped the visitors hold serve and battle to the victory.

The class of those stops came late in the 85^th minute when a shot from the left side of the pitch was redirected by a diving effort by English then cleared off the line by Lucy Fazackerley and cleared out by Juliana Viera. It was a critical effort and propelled the Pirates forward to the finish.

Key Stats

The victory was the 100^th of head coach Gary Higgins' career including his time at Lenoir-Rhyne.
The clean sheet for Maeve English was her eighth of the season, a career high. The senior is now alone in fifth in single-season shutouts in program history.
Schnell's goal was her fourth game-winner of the season.

Up Next
The Pirates remain in Texas as they take on the North Texas Mean Green at 2 p.m. Sunday in Denton.