Pirates Topple North Texas, 3-0

Sunday, September 29

Greenville, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

5-2-4, 2-1-1

North Texas

7-3-2, 3-1-0

North Texas

East Carolina

Schnell strikes her first of two goals

September 29, 2024 | Soccer

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina soccer team ended a home scoring drought and did it in explosive fashion with a 3-0 victory over North Texas on Sunday afternoon in Johnson Stadium. Sydney Schnell's first-career brace and Abby Sowa's penalty kick spelled doom the visiting Mean Green who had been riding a nine-game unbeaten streak and a 3-0 start to league play.

It had been nearly 500 minutes since the Pirates (5-2-4, 2-1-1 AAC) had scored a goal in their home stadium entering Sunday, and for a while it looked like the story might repeat. However, on a hot September day, the home side had other ideas, and they did so with not just 90 minutes of sound play, but with a few highlight-reel moments as well.

The first came in the 19th minute, when North Texas' Bailey Wesco got out and transition and managed to place a dangerous shot on frame to the right side of the goal where Maeve English, who made seven total saves on the day, was able to come out to push the ball wide for a corner kick with UNT (7-3-2, 3-1-0 AAC) was unable to convert.

It didn't take long then for the Pirates to find their groove and in the 26th minute, Schnell struck for goal. Receiving a pass in the deep left corner from Kylie Alvarez, Schnell drove up, dribbling to the upper corner of the eighteen where she struck a beauty of a curling right-footed shot which had a perfect amount of arc to be able to beat the outstretched hand of Mean Green keeper Maddie Ogden and under the crossbar for the score. The goal was Schnell's fourth of the season and the third coming in similar fashion, striking from distance.

After Schnell's goal, it looked like the game might enter a classic contest of survival—one side scrapping to level the score and one holding on for the win. English was called upon for a pair more of dramatic saves to keep UNT off the board. First, in the 37th minute, English showed her athleticism on a well-placed Alexis Miller shot from distance, stretching high to get a glove to the shot and push it over the crossbar for another unfruitful corner. The graduate keeper was called upon put one more play into her docket of highlights when a ball sent in from a free kick bounced its way to the head of Summer Brown who knocked the ball towards net from close range where English, again, managed to go to full extension and push out and off the crossbar where it was eventually cleared away. The sequence by any measure, probably should have resulted in a goal, but English and the terrific defense in front of her stood firm.

The Pirates put one more on the board in the 79th minute with a little help from North Texas after Schnell's cross went off of the hand of Lily Cunningham. After a VAR check to confirm, Sowa stepped to the stop where she confidently finished to the lower left corner for her third goal of the year. The tally was the fourth PK conversion of Sowa's career and her sixth goal overall, all while playing as the team's Ironwoman defender.

Insurance came not long after with a Juliana Viera corner which, similarly to last time out against Charlotte, went all the way through to the feet of Schnell who let it rip back to goal. Ogden was able to get a hand to it but not force the shot off frame and the final UNT defender standing on the goal line was unable to clear it away and instead made certain there would be no VAR check as the ball shot backwards and into the top netting for the 3-0 lead. Schnell's goal gave her the first multi-goal game of her career and 11 for her career.

For the final minutes of the game, the Pirates looked like a confident side, and North Texas looked like a side which had taken it's first major shot since dropping their first two games of the season.

As the final horn sounded, the Pirates had put a stopped to the Mean Green's nine-game unbeaten streak and given themselves their sixth clean sheet of the season in the process.

Notables

English's seven saves were her most and the most by a Pirate since Oct. 24, 2021 when she made the same number in a 2-1 win over Memphis.
The Pirates were outshot for the first time on the season, 14-6; but the team managed to score three goals on those six shots.
English earned her 26th career shutout while making her 78th career start. Four more clean sheets would tie her for the career record (Amber Campbell, 2005-08) and four more starts would tie her for that record as well (Madison Keller, 2005-08). Annabelle Abbott while having a tremendous game playing the full 90, made her 76th career start, inching up the career leader board as well.
Sowa has now played 4,710 consecutive minutes dating back to 2021.

Up Next
The Pirates hit the road to take on Tulsa at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+.