Pirates Fall to Charlotte in Regular Season Finale, 1-0

Thursday, October 30

Greenville, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

6-7-4, 4-4-2

Charlotte

10-5-2, 6-2-2

Charlotte

East Carolina

October 30, 2025 | Soccer

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GREENVILLE, N.C. - It seems Murphy's Law was in effect for the East Carolina soccer team on Thursday night as a 1-0 loss to the Charlotte 49ers at Bill Clark Homes Field at Johnson Stadium capped a day of breaks going the wrong way for the Pirates. Naroa Domenech scored the game's lone goal in the 61st minute for the decision.

With the loss, the Pirates (6-7-4, 4-4-2 American) finish eighth in the American Conference and will face No. 3 Memphis on Monday in the conference quarterfinal.

It was a strange affair on Thursday which saw a seeming handball which could have resulted in an ECU penalty go uncalled early, then a lengthy period of two teams trading jabs, before Charlotte (10-5-2, 6-2-2 American) got the game's lone goal on a rebound in the 61st.

For her part, Olivia Dietrich made a pair of saves in the game including the one preceding the 49ers' goal, but Charlotte keeper Harlee Head made six for the victory.

Perhaps the best chance for the Pirates was an early one, a missile of a shot by Juliana Viera, freshly returned from international play in Uruguay, which gravely challenged Head in just the second minute but lead instead to an unfruitful corner.

Again the hosts had an awesome chance, just minutes after the Charlotte goal, when Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram got loose for a breakaway countering chance but was narrowly stopped as her attempt to dribble around the keeper was parried away by a timely save.

When all was said and done, it was an understandably frustrating result for the Pirates in a game which saw 14 shots for each team and a healthy 6-3 lead in shots on goal for ECU. But all is one it takes and one was all it took on a brisk night in Johnson Stadium for the pesky visitors from the Queen City.

Up Next: The Pirates will begin their title defense with a contest against the No. 3 team in the nation as they face Memphis at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday at the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.