Pirates Return Home to Host Florida Atlantic on Thursday

Game 11: East Carolina (4-4-2, 2-1-0 American) vs. Florida Atlantic (4-7-2, 1-2-1 American)
Date	Thursday, Oct. 2
Time	7:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (Bill Clark Homes Field at Johnson Stadium)
Coverage	Live Stats: Live Stats \| Video: ESPN+
Game Notes	East Carolina
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUsoc \| Instagram: @ECUSoc \| Facebook: ECU Soccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After 21 days on the road, the East Carolina soccer team returns to Bill Clark Homes Field at Johnson Stadium on Thursday to host the Florida Atlantic Owls. The game, set for a 7 p.m. opening kick, is free to attend for fans and will be available for streaming on ESPN+ for those unable to make it out.

The contest will be the Pirates annual Pink Game with free t-shirts being given out to the first 100 fans in attendance.

What's at Stake?
The Pirates will look to move to 3-1 in league play as the conference race heats up. At six points to date, the team sits at fifth overall in the American and four points adrift of nationally ranked and perennial league favorite Memphis. After winning against North Texas on Sunday, ECU also has an opportunity to move back over .500 for the season. The 2-0 win in Denton, Texas was fueled by wins from Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram and AJ Mayock and a combined shutout in goal by Olivia Dietrich and Kayce Taylor. The clean sheet was the team's fourth of the season as all four wins have now come in shutout fashion.

Scouting Florida Atlantic
The Owls enter the game with a 4-7-2 overall record and a 1-2-1 mark in league play after taking down Temple, 3-2, on Sunday. The team used two second half goals to seal the victory, including one from their leading goal scorer Sloane Young who paces the group with seven scores on the season. To date, Michelle Horan leads the way with seven assists in 2025 while on the other side of the ball, Ashley Small and Megan Hogate have gotten the majority of the run in goal as the Owls goalkeeper unit has combined for a .608 save percentage.

Series History
The Pirates and Owls have met four times dating back two 1998 and three times as conference foes—once in the CUSA era and once in the American era. ECU leads 4-0 overall having won the first ever meeting in Boca Raton 2-0 last season. Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram and Samantha Moxie scored goals in the game while Maeve English made one save on her way to a clean sheet.

Odd Histories
While Patrick Baker is 0-2 against ECU while coaching Florida Atlantic, the Owls' gaffer has played the Pirates twice at previous stops with wins in 1994 and 1998 while coaching at NC Wesleyan and Penn, respectively.

Weekly Honors
Sofia Serrano was named the American Conference's Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for her efforts against North Texas. The senior was critical in helping the Pirates to a shutout and also contributed an assist on AJ Mayock's goal. Additionally, Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram earned Honorable Mention recognition for scoring the game-winning goal in the game.

Not Superstitious, but A Little Stitious
For the fans who worry about that kind of thing, the Pirates' record by uniform color: Purple: 1-2-0 | White: 0-2-2 | Black: 3-0-0

The Woman in Charge
After seven seasons as an assistant, Emily Buccilla takes the reins as head coach in 2025. She is the first female head coach in program history.

Pirates in the Pros
Two recent East Carolina alumnae have recently signed professional contracts with Maeve English joining AO Rethymniaki Enosi Athliton on the isle of Crete, competing in the Greek Division A. Meanwhile, Abby Sowa inked a contract with Rekord Bielsko-Biała in Poland's Orlen Superliga. Notably, Sowa is now competing in the same league as former Pirate teammate Kim Sanford.

Home Sweet Home
The Pirates play their home contests in one of the most beautiful soccer facilities in Division I in Bill Clark Homes Field at Johnson Stadium. Recently outfitted with a new scoreboard and state-of-the-art LED lighting, the venue is a great place to watch a game whether it's an early season matinee or a conference thriller under the lights. Pirate Nation has played their part of late, too. Five of the top 10 attended games in program history have come since head coach Emily Buccilla arrived in Greenville with three coming in just the past three seasons, including the all-time record of 1,335 attendees when the Pirates hosted then-No. 2 Duke in 2022.

Pirates Return Home to Host Florida Atlantic on Thursday

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Players Mentioned

Olivia Dietrich

Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram

Maeve English

AJ Mayock

Samantha Moxie

Sofia Serrano

Abby Sowa

Kayce Taylor

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