Pirates Hunt First Victory at VCU on Sunday

Game Four: East Carolina (0-2-1) at VCU (0-1-2)
Date	Sunday, August 24
Time	1:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Richmond, Va. (Sports Backers 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 stays on the road for another contest in the city of Richmond as they take on the VCU Rams at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+.

What's at Stake
The Pirates are hunting their first victory of the campaign and will look to bounce back from Thursday's loss to Richmond as they head back to the River City. The team has gotten both of their goals on the season on penalty kicks from Isabella Gutiérrez and have yet to strike from the run of play—despite several tantalizing chances against the Spiders. The good news, though, is that the Pirate defense has not been conceding much with one goal against in the last two games despite the back line's relative youth.

Scouting VCU
The Rams enter the contest with an 0-1-2 record after stealing a 1-1 draw at American on Thursday. Stella Castro scored the equalizer in the 89th minute of the contest to escape with a tie. For the season, Castro is one of three players who have contributed a goal for a Rams team which returned no players who tallied a goal a season ago, and just one (Castro) who recorded even a point. The team has also been learning with a new keeper in goal with Mia Pongratz taking the reins and making 11 stops to five goals allowed on the year thus far.

Series History
The Pirates and Rams have met 13 times dating back to 1995, most recently battling to a scoreless draw in Richmond in 2022. The most recent decisive contest came in 2021 when the Pirates earned a 2-0 home win in which Kim Sanford and Peyton Godbey scored first-half goals.

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

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

Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram

Isabella Gutiérrez

Juliana Viera

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