Pirates Hit the Road for the First Time at Richmond

Game Three: East Carolina (0-1-1) at Richmond (1-1-0)
Date	Thursday, August 21
Time	5:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Richmond, Va. (President's 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 hits the road for the first time as they take on the Richmond Spiders at 5 p.m. on Thursday in the River City. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+.

What's at Stake
The Pirates will look to build upon their 1-1 draw with NC State on Sunday. Isabella Gutiérrez scored the lone goal for the Pirates once again on a penalty kick. To date, the team has yet to score a goal from the run of play with Gutiérrez' PKs being the only goals on the season. With a win, head coach Emily Buccilla would notch the first of her career and the Pirates would move back to .500 on the season heading into a Sunday contest at VCU.

Scouting Richmond
The Spiders enter Thursday's match with a 1-1-0 record. The team opened their season with a dominant 5-0 win over VMI, highlighted by freshman Emma Newman's four-goal performance, including a hat trick in the first 14 minutes. In their second outing, Richmond fell 1-0 to Coastal Carolina despite generating six shots on goal in the second half. After finishing the 2024 campaign 4-10-3 with just 12 goals scored, the Spiders are looking for more consistency in attack, with Newman already emerging as a key offensive presence.

Series History
The Pirates hold a 2-5-1 all-time record against Richmond. The series began in 1996 with a 3-1 Spider victory. The most recent meeting came in 2019, when ECU opened its season with a 1-1 draw after two overtime periods at Johnson Stadium, thanks to an 81st-minute equalizer from Daira Draovitch. The Pirates' last win in the series dates back to August 31, 2018, a 3-0 away victory.

A Long Road Home
Holly Schlagel and Molly Thomas returned to the pitch at long last on Thursday. Due to a litany of injuries, the pair had not seen game action in 1,057 and 679 days, respectively.

Watch List
Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram, Gutiérrez and Viera were named to the American Conference Preseason Watch List as the Pirate players to watch for conference honors this season.

The Expectations Game
The Pirates have been chosen fourth in the American Conference preseason poll, having garnered one first-place vote (Memphis and South Florida earned the remaining 10). The Pirates were chosen third a season ago before winning the American Tournament Championship.

Newcomers to Watch
The Pirates have a great group of new players for fans to know going into the season. Notable names include transfer Olivia Dietrich in goal, freshman Gia Spinetti on the back line, transfer AJ Mayock in the midfield, transfer Alyssa Tucker and rookie Izzy O'Connor in the forwards group.

Home Sweet Home
The Pirates play their home contests in one of the most beautiful soccer facilities in Division I in 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.

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Players Mentioned

Olivia Dietrich

Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram

Isabella Gutiérrez

AJ Mayock

Izzy O'Connor

Holly Schlagel

Gia Spinetti

Molly Thomas

Alyssa Tucker

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