Stories Remembered, Stories Forgotten: ECU Soccer’s Perfect Run

They say that there are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen (though, the original phrase from the early 20th century refers to centuries rather than decades, but I digress). The East Carolina soccer program had one of those weeks last week.

It's the kind of week which reminds me of a phrase which I wrote when ECU women's basketball won their 2023 American Athletic Conference Tournament: 'the stories we forget.' The idea being that in a decade there are some things we will look back and remember, but many more we will forget.

What we will remember: Maeve English was brilliant. The Greenville kid made save after save and rightfully earned tournament Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors. It was a week that solidified her as the greatest goalkeeper in program history and in my mind submitted the argument that no one else should ever don her #31 and take the pitch in Purple and Gold. She's had that sort of career.

We may forget that Maeve made the SportsCenter Top 10 plays for her semifinal stop in double overtime. We may forget that but for another highlight save in the final (twice), Memphis would be putting the finishing touches on their NCAA Tournament prep. I hope we'll remember her PK save in the semifinal, but maybe not. What we will remember is that she was sensational.

We will remember that Annabelle Abbott scored the game winning goal. We'll remember that she took home Most Outstanding Offensive Player recognition, though we may not remember the context of why. We will probably remember that Annabelle and Maeve have officially played in more games than any other players in program history.

But we probably won't remember that the goal was Annabelle's first of the season. I doubt we'll remember that the same was something of an aberration and that Annabelle has a had a knack for the timely strike throughout her career. Certainly, we won't remember that she stepped into a markedly difficult midfield role as a senior and excelled.

We will remember that it took Gary Higgins only three years to take the program from 8-5-5 in 2022 to a conference crown in 2024.

Those are the stories we'll remember, but what about the others?

We might forget that Erica Roberts struck gold in the quarterfinal against Charlotte. That the goal was the first of her career and that the score served sweet revenge for a Pirate squad which had fallen 5-0 in the same round against the same opponent a year prior.

We might forget Sydney Schnell's unrelenting effort to steal victory away from South Florida in the semifinals, poking home a second-effort tally to even the score with under seven minutes remaining and allowing the game to get to overtime at all; or that even that game had special meaning after a 3-0 defeat against the Bulls in the regular season. We'll remember that Sydney led the team in scoring this season, though. That one goes in the record book. That we will know.

But we probably won't remember the group of players—Samantha Moxie, Erica Roberts, Ella Steck, Emma Sheehan and the rookie Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram—who played up top and gave Sydney the freedom to be herself in her last year of collegiate soccer and to soar to First-Team All-Conference honors.

We probably won't remember how good Kylie Alvarez has been. That she scored her first career goal this year and that despite accumulating essentially no stats in the box score, her untiring work in the midfield would have been sorely noticed had she not been there. We won't remember the miles Lindsey Aiken has put in on the wing and how many stops she's made dropping back defensively. We probably won't remember the play of Sierra Lowery who returned for a sixth year, battled injuries, and played a crucial role in the team's tournament run in the midfield. Nor Mackenzie Smith or Isabella Gutiérrez who filled numerous, varying roles with class and grace throughout the year.

We probably won't remember that back line. That golden trio of Juliana Viera, Lucy Fazackerley and The Captain, Abby Sowa.

We won't remember Juli moving into that defensive role and excelling. We won't remember Lucy being a rock and we may not remember that Abby Sowa has played nearly six thousand minutes without coming out of a game. She hasn't played the most games or scored the most goals or made the biggest impact statistically, but for her team, in her role, she's been the best.

No one could have filled that role but Abby. From taking penalty kicks to getting her group organized to serving up free kicks to always being there for a timely stop, Abby has been marvelous this season. I cannot overstate how important she has been and how fervently I believe she deserves all of the recognition she gets.

Looking bigger, I don't know that we will remember that the team was picked third in the preseason poll and that they finished the regular season in that very spot. I do believe we will remember the team going into Raleigh and taking down NC State in the opener. We should remember Caitlen's banger of a goal to tie the game and end Memphis' nation-leading home winning streak. We should remember how significant that home-finale win over Rice was. We may not.

But I know that we will remember this: For the first time in 30 years since the program was founded, a conference tournament trophy lives in Greenville.

This team stands on the backs of giants—Jaime Pierce, Amanda Duffy, Meghan McCallion, Amber Campbell, Madison Keller, and so many others—and their victories are the victories of the players who came before them. I am confident that we will remember that. We certainly should.

And as for me, here's what I'll remember:

I will remember this team's spirit. I'll remember the gutty, unfathomable at times efforts of the players who stepped onto the pitch and bled Purple and Gold. I'll remember the players who didn't see much of the field but who found their roles on the team through motivating and comforting and coaching and just being present for their teammates all season.

More than this, I'll remember how this team made me feel. The joy, the inclusion, the unbridled, unadulterated optimism that comes from a group which has gelled in that most perfect way. I'll remember how they welcomed players, coaches and staff alike into their greater Pirate family and I shall never forget that Sunday in November when their faces could no longer hide what it all meant to them.

In the long book of the history of the East Carolina soccer program, many chapters have been added in 2024 and come six o'clock on Friday evening, win or lose, these Pirates will get to add one more epic verse—and we should all be proud.

Stories Remembered, Stories Forgotten: ECU Soccer’s Perfect Run

Players Mentioned

Annabelle Abbott

Lindsey Aiken

Kylie Alvarez

Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram

Maeve English

Lucy Fazackerley

Isabella Gutiérrez

Sierra Lowery

Samantha Moxie

Erica Roberts

Sydney Schnell

Emma Sheehan

Mackenzie Smith

Abby Sowa

Ella Steck

Juliana Viera

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