Pirates Ready to Host Regular Season Finale with Charlotte

Game 17: East Carolina (6-6-4, 4-3-2 American) vs. Charlotte (9-5-2, 5-2-2 American)
Date	Thursday, Oct. 30
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. – The East Carolina soccer team closes out the regular season on their home turf at 7 p.m. on Thursday as they welcome the Charlotte 49ers to Bill Clark Homes Field at Johnson Stadium. The game is free to attend for fans and will be available for streaming on ESPN+ for those unable to make it out. Evan Budrovich and Brianna Pinto will have the call.

The team's Halloween Black Out game will feature pregame trick-or-treating from 6-7 p.m. with members of the ECU cheer, dance, volleyball, swimming & diving, tennis and women's basketball teams on the walkway behind the grandstands. There will additionally be soccer ball a giveaway for the first 100 fans in attendance.

What's at Stake
The math can get convoluted, but the brass tax is this: depending on how all of the games go, the Pirates can finish as high as second or as low as eighth in the American Conference standings. Fortunately, the math for the good scenario is easier: a win and a Rice loss puts ECU in second by way of a tiebreak with Charlotte. Anything else and there's a bit more to work out. The Pirates officially earned their spot in the American Conference Tournament for the sixth straight season thanks to their 2-1 win over UTSA on Sunday in which AJ Mayock and Isabella Gutiérrez tallied scores to push the team to victory. As such, regardless of seeding, these 2025 East Carolina Pirates will get the chance to defend their 2024 American Conference Tournament crown.

Scouting Charlotte
The 49ers enter the game with a 9-5-2 mark on the season having gone 5-2-2 in American Conference play to sit at second in the league standings, three points ahead of ECU and Rice. The team has won their last two games, including a 4-0 blowout of Tulsa in their last outing. For the year, Megan Bradley paces the team with 19 points on a team high seven goals and five assists to lead nine total goal scorers and three players with five-or-more tallies. On the other side of the ball, Harlee Head has gotten the majority of the minutes with 59 saves made to just 18 goals allowed.

Series History
The Pirates and 49ers have met 20 times dating back to East Carolina's inaugural season back in 1994 with a 10-8-2 edge for Charlotte all time. The Pirates got the better of the last meeting in the American Conference Quarterfinal last season, a 1-0 win in double overtime which saw Erica Robert score the game's lone goal for the golden goal victory. In their last regular season match, it was a rainy 2-2 draw in Charlotte a year ago in which Sydney Schnell and Abby Sowa scored goals before an 86th minute strike from Reese Black earned Charlotte a point at the death.

Weekly Honors
Isabella Gutiérrez earned American Conference Weekly Honorable Mention recognition on Monday after posting four points last week, playing a role in all three goals scored by the Pirates. Against Rice she assisted Alyssa Tucker's goal before providing an assist on AJ Mayock's goal against UTSA. Both assists came on perfectly delivered set pieces. Also against UTSA, the senior scored what ended up being the game-winning goal in the 80th minute.

Away From Home
With a 4-4-2 record in road games this season have notched a fourth-consecutive season with a .500-or-better record on the road.

Iron Woman
Sofia Serrano remains the only Pirate to play every minute this season, now with 1,440 minutes played.

Not Superstitious, but A Little Stitious
Record by uniform color: Purple: 1-3-1 | White: 1-3-2 | Black: 4-0-1

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.

Pirates Ready to Host Regular Season Finale with Charlotte

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maeve English

Isabella Gutiérrez

AJ Mayock

Sydney Schnell

Sofia Serrano

Abby Sowa

Alyssa Tucker

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