Fazackerley Goal Sends Pirates Past Tulsa, 1-0

Thursday, October 3

Tulsa, Okla.

8:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

6-2-4, 3-1-1

Tulsa

5-6-2, 1-3-0

East Carolina

Tulsa

October 03, 2024 | Soccer

Box Score

TULSA, Okla. – A Lucy Fazackerley header in the 24th minute was all the East Carolina soccer team needed to get by Tulsa, 1-0, in a pivotal conference match on Thursday at the Hurricane Soccer Stadium. Assisted by Juliana Viera, the goal was Fazackerley's first of the season.

Statistics help to tell the story, but they hardly ever tell the whole story, and that was the case again on Thursday as for the second-consecutive game, the Pirates (6-2-4, 3-1-1 AAC) were outshot by their opponent but came out on top in the game. An 11-10 margin was narrowed by the Pirates late, but it was the 7-4 margin for the visitors in shots on goal which helped ECU earn their sixth win of the season.

The game started with a flurry of action with both teams finding tantalizing chances in the first 10 minutes of the game. Tulsa got to throw the first punch in the sixth minute when a long shot by Kaleigh Hart was pushed over the bar by a leaping Maeve English before a tricky, turning Ashlyn Fernandez shot to the bottom center of the goal was stopped by the graduate keeper on the ensuing corner. Those were two of English's four saves on the game as she earned her sixth clean sheet of the season—and the seventh total for the Pirates.

The Pirates got their turn in the eighth minute when Annabelle Abbott, who notably has a propensity for long shots against Tulsa, drove a laser of a shot to the upper right corner where Tatum Sanders was able to push it over for a corner which resulted in nothing of note.

Though Tulsa (5-6-2, 1-3-0 AAC) held serve for that round, it was soon the Pirates' turn for a haymaker. In the 24th minute, it came from the foot of Viera to the head of Fazackerley. Taking a free kick from about 30 yards out, left of center of the goal, Viera looped in a left-footed lob to the far post which simply could not have been better struck. Making her run to goal, Fazackerley made no mistake about it with a clinical finish down and into the lower right corner of the net. It was another bit of set piece magic from a team finding its form in those situations with now five goals in the last three games coming from set piece opportunities.

PIRATES STRIKE FIRST 🔥#GoPirates pic.twitter.com/Am41SlTBS2
— East Carolina Soccer (@ECUSoc) October 4, 2024

Tulsa had their chances to draw even as the game progressed. A 42nd minute interplay between Blaine Schuttte and Hannah Chance in the box looked promising before being sent off of hands arm for an ECU free kick. Another Schutte chance, this time in the 63rd minute went off of the cross bar with pace, right back down to the feet of Schutte where she put another solid attempt on frame only to be stifled as English was able to lunge and get a preventative hand on the ball.

That chance represented the last of the Golden Hurricane's meaningfully dangerous attack in the game and set up the Pirates for a couple of late chances of their own. Once in the 67th minute, a long ball from English was directed on by Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram to Sydney Schnell who found herself all alone behind the Tulsa defense 40 yards from goal. Schnell made a run in but her right-footed shot was eventually blocked away, preventing the Pirates' leading scorrer from adding to her docket. That English to Schnell connection had some menace to it on the day as again in the 82nd minute, the keeper delivered a beautiful long ball off of a free kick to the feet of Schnell who gathered, turned and fired a shot which unfortunately caromed off of the crossbar and out of danger.

Still, the Pirates largely controlled the game throughout and facing a hungry Tulsa team down the stretch, the visitors managed to keep their composure, absorb fouls and run the clock out for a terrific road win.

Notables

Tulsa took the battle on shots 11-10 but the Pirates held strong with a 7-4 edge in shots on goal and a 6-2 margin on corner kicks. Tulsa's Sanders managed two more saves than English, but the Golden Hurricane also fouled a dozen times to ECU's seven.
Fazackerley's goal was her first of the year but the fourth of her career. The assist was Viera's third of the season and fourth total at ECU.
English's clean sheet was not only her sixth of the season, but her 27^th of her career, now just three off of Amber Campbell's program record.
Speaking of records, English made her 79^th start on Thursday, moving her ever closer to Madison Keller's career benchmark of 82. Annabelle Abbott, just behind made her 77^th start.
Abby Sowa has now played 4,800 minutes consecutively without coming out, dating back to Oct. 17, 2021.

Up Next
The Pirates have Sunday off and will return to action at home on Thursday, Oct. 3 when they host South Florida at 7 p.m. The game is free to attend for fans and will be available for streaming on ESPN+.