Pirates Set for American Semifinal Tilt with South Florida

American Semifinal: East Carolina (7-9, 4-2 AAC) vs. South Florida (12-4, 4-2 AAC)
Date	Thursday, May 1
Time	7:15 p.m. (ET)
Location	Norfolk, Va. (L.R. Hill Sports Complex)
Media Coverage	Live Stats: StatBroadcast Stream: ESPN+
Game Notes	East Carolina Notes
Fact Book	2025 Lacrosse Fact Book
Social Media	Twitter: @e culax Instagram: @eculax

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina lacrosse team begins postseason play with an American Athletic Conference Semifinal affair with second-seeded South Florida on Thursday at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex in Norfolk, Va. The game is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. but will begin no fewer than 45 minutes following the first semifinal contest between JMU and Vanderbilt which begins at 4:30 p.m.

Attendance is free for fans and further fan information can be found here. For those unable to attend, the game will be available for streaming on ESPN+ with Kevin Copp, Courtney Connor and Maria Trivelpiece on the call.

Last Time Out
The Pirates nearly got their signature win in an overtime loss to No. 11 James Madison on Saturday. After leading by two goals with under four minutes to play, the Pirates conceded the final three goals of the game to just miss out on the victory in a back-and-forth thriller. There were five lead changes in the game as Riley Matthiesen's four goals and Katelyn Sclafani's hat trick paced the ECU scoring. Jaime Behar made a career high 16 saves in cage and Kayla Wilkes posted a sensational five-point, four-ground ball, four-caused turnover, five-draw control outing.

Scouting the Bulls
South Florida enters the game with a 12-4 overall record to go with their 4-2 clip in league play and comes off of a blowout win over Stetson, 23-6, to conclude the regular season. On the season, Sofia Chepenik continues to lead the team with 63 points on a team-high 49 goals while Juliana George paces the group with 24 assists to go with 30 goals of her own. Mikaela Ness paces the group with 17 caused turnovers while Paige Pagano has gotten the majority of run in goal with 123 saves and a .459 save percentage.

Series History
South Florida took the first ever meeting between the two programs in blowout fashion on March 22. The 23-9 result was keyed by a well-rounded offensive attack with 15 players scoring goals for the Bulls, led by hat tricks from Chepenik and George. Leah Bestany scored five goals and added an assist in a bright spot in defeat for the Pirates.

Postseason Honors
Emma Magazu and Kayla Wilkes have become the first players in program history to earn American Athletic Conference Player of the Year recognition with their Defensive Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year awards. Magazu and Wilkes were both named unanimously to the All-Conference First Team while Jaime Behar, Leah Bestany, Erin Gulden and Caroline Meininger earned Second Team accolades.

Record Breaking Stat Lines
With 27 caused turnovers on the season, Magazu has broken the ECU single-season record and to date stands just five behind the program record for ground balls with 41. Wilkes on the other hand, is the first player in program history to record 30+ goals, 25+ ground balls, 25+ draw controls and 15+ caused turnovers.

What's at Stake?
The Pirates will be chasing their first ever American Athletic Conference Tournament victory on Thursday—as well as a bit of revenge for their loss to South Florida earlier this season.

Pirates Set for American Semifinal Tilt with South Florida

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Players Mentioned

Jaime Behar

Leah Bestany

Erin Gulden

Emma Magazu

Riley Matthiesen

Caroline Meininger

Katelyn Sclafani

Kayla Wilkes

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