Pirates Voyage to Rice on Thursday

Game 15: East Carolina (5-6-3, 3-3-1 American) at Rice (9-2-4, 3-1-4 American)
Date	Thursday, Oct. 23
Time	7:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Houston, Texas (Holloway Field)
Coverage	Live Stats: Live Stats \| Video: ESPN+
Game Notes	East Carolina
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUsoc \| Instagram: @ECUSoc \| Facebook: ECU Soccer

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina soccer team heads back out on the road to take on Rice at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday at Holloway Field in Houston. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+ with Jason Metko and Eddie Robinson on the call.

What's at Stake
Faced with consecutive losses for the first time this season, the Pirates will be looking to bounce back with the American Conference regular season slate reaching a critical juncture. At 10 points, the team sits at seventh in the standings as Memphis has now clinched the regular season crown with their 22 points to second-place Rice's 13 points. The top eight teams will make the conference tournament being held Nov. 3-9 in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.

Scouting Rice
The Owls enter the game with a 9-2-4 overall record and a 3-1-4 mark in American Conference play after earning a 2-2 draw with North Texas on Sunday. The team has been ranked nationally at various points this season but a string of draws in league play sees Rice on the outside looking in of the top 25 for the time being. Still, Leah Chancey has paced the team with a virtuoso stat line of 26 points on nine goals and eight assists on an offense which has seen 13 goal scorers and a +11 goal differential. Chancey is rated as the No. 63 player in the nation by TopDrawer Soccer. On the other side, Kirsten Ruf has earned most of the minutes in goal with 61 saves to just 21 goals allowed.

Series History
The Pirates and Owls have met 10 times dating back to 2005 with a 6-2-2 edge for ECU all time. When the teams met for the first time as American Conference foes last season, it was a 2-1 win in Greenville with goals by Abby Sowa and Sierra Lowery securing what became a massive three points for the Pirates.

A Star is Born
Sophomore Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram ranks fifth in the American Conference in points per game (1.15), assists per game (0.38), game-winning goals and shots/shots on goal per game. She also ranks fourth in shot accuracy (Alyssa Tucker ranks third). Dolan Boodram is eighth in goals per game (0.38).

¡Buena suerte Juli!
The Pirates will be without Juliana Viera this week as she steps away for national team duty with Uruguay in the CONMEBAL Women's Nations League. She will be competing for her home country in a match against Argentina on Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. ET. The CONMEBOL Women's Nations League is a World Cup qualifying event for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil. Qualifying is taking place from Oct. 24, 2025 to June 9, 2026.

Not Superstitious, but A Little Stitious
Record by uniform color: Purple: 1-3-0 | White: 1-3-2 | Black: 3-0-1

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 will be 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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram

Maeve English

Sierra Lowery

Abby Sowa

Alyssa Tucker

Juliana Viera

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