Pirates Travel to South Florida on Thursday

Game Nine: East Carolina (3-3-2) at South Florida (5-4-0)
Date	Thursday, September 18
Time	7:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Tampa, Fla. (Corbett 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 hits the road for the first time in conference play as they travel to Tampa, Fla. for a match with the South Florida Bulls at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+ with Ryan Urquhart and Jordyn Listro on the call.

What's at Stake
The Pirates will look to move to 2-0 in conference play and keep momentum going after their 2-0 win over Tulsa last Thursday. Alyssa Tucker and Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram scored goals in that win while Olivia Dietrich earned her second solo clean sheet of the season. The Pirates will also be looking for the second ever win against the Bulls in Tampa after winning in Corbett Stadium for the first time in 2023.

Scouting South Florida
The Bulls enter the match with a 5-4-0 record against what has been a difficult docket of games, including a pair of ranked opponents. The team enters on a four-game winning streak after dominating Grambling State, 6-0, on Sunday following a 4-2 win over Temple to open league play last Thursday. Individually, Hedda Ornberg leads the squad with five goals to go with a pair of assists for a group outscoring their opponents 17-11 on the season. In goal, Leire Herraez Gallah and Gaby Rourke have evenly split minutes in goal with 405 minutes apiece and 17 and 13 saves respectively. The duo has combined for four shutouts on the year.

Series History
The Pirates and Bulls have met 18 times dating back to their first contest in 2002 with a dominant 13-3-2 record for South Florida. Those wins include a 3-0 win in Greenville last season; however, the Pirates got the better of the Bulls in the American Conference Semifinal in a PK shootout win. Sydney Schnell scored a leveling goal in the 84th minute of that game before the teams played through a scoreless overtime session. Maeve English made a save on Gentianna Fetaj on the third attempt of the shootout while all five Pirates converted for the victory.

Weekly Honors
Olivia Dietrich was named American Goalkeeper of the Week and Alyssa Tucker earned an Honorable Mention nod for their performances against Tulsa last Thursday. Dietrich made three saves in her second solo clean sheet of the season while Tucker scored the game-winning goal in the win.

First Career Start
With Juliana Viera unavailable due to injury, Kyleen Bents was asked to step in on the Pirates' defense for her first career start against Tulsa. She went the full 90 and excelled in the shutout win in just her sixth career appearance.

Not Superstitious, but A Little Stitious
For the fans who worry about that kind of thing, the Pirates' record by uniform color: Purple: 1-2-0 | White: 0-1-2 | Black: 2-0-0

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.

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Players Mentioned

Kyleen Bents

Olivia Dietrich

Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram

Maeve English

Sydney Schnell

Abby Sowa

Alyssa Tucker

Juliana Viera

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