Pirates Beat North Texas for Conference Road Win, 2-0

Sunday, September 28

Denton, Texas

2:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

4-4-2, 2-1-0

North Texas

4-8-1, 0-3-0

East Carolina

North Texas

September 28, 2025 | Soccer

Box Score

DENTON, Texas – The East Carolina soccer team defeated North Texas, 2-0, for their first road American Conference win on Sunday afternoon. The Pirates scored once in each half in a game which the visitors controlled from the opening whistle.

The Pirates (4-4-2, 2-1-0 American) came out firing from the start, consistently pressing forward and were rewarded for it in the 19th minute when Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram made good work of the team's sixth shot of the game. The London native used her nifty footwork to beat three defenders in the box and delivered a left footed shot to the right side of the goal, just beating North Texas (4-8-1, 0-3-0 American) keeper Hicks Bishop for the game's opening goal.

Isabella Gutiérrez assisted on the goal, her first assist and fifth point of the season. Dolan Boodram's goal was her team-best fifth of the season and pushes her to 13 points in 2025.

Bishop was called into action almost immediately after as Ella Steck fired a great look to the upper corner of the near post from a tight angle on the right, forcing a diving stop. The keeper made another save on the ensuing corner, stopping a headed chance from Julian Viera who had freshly entered the match after missing two games due to injury.

The Pirates amassed a margin of 10-3 in shots in the first half with a 4-2 edge in shots on goal, forcing as many saves as North Texas had shots.

The second half started slow, with only speculative chances for both teams in the first third, of the final 45, but when the action picked up, it did so in spades.

ECU had the first of a few scary moments in the 61st minute when a misplaced ball off the head of a Pirate defender sailed over keeper Olivia Dietrich who had come off her line. Sofia Serrano, ever in the correct position, filled in the clear the danger and get the offense moving the other way. On that ensuing counter, Steck once again nearly scored as she struck a left-footed shot from outside the 18 which caromed dangerously off the crossbar.

North Texas, pressing high up the pitch as they hunted for an equalizer, probably should have had it in the 64th minute when a loose ball in the box after a well-timed cross ended up on the right foot of Claire Niedermeier with nothing but the open goal in front of her. Dietrich, who had been knocked down by the prior challenge, was moving back into position as Niedermeier took the shot, potentially altering the shot and preventing a goal.

AJ Mayock, a Texas native, who was long overdue for a goal, got a beauty in the 68th minute with a precisely struck shot from distance. The attempt, taken from just to the right of the top of the box, curled perfectly to the bottom left corner of the goal, just beating Bishop. It was a first-class effort that was never going to be saved and was set up by an assist from Sofia Serrano, the first point of her career.

Following the goal, Kayce Taylor entered the game in goal for Dietrich. It was her second appearance of the season, previously competing in the team's 4-0 win at VCU on Aug. 24. Dietrich exited with three saves on her stat sheet and no goals allowed.

Taylor ended up having some asked of her, rising to the occasion with an excellent one-on-one stop on Summer Brown on a breakaway opportunity in the 72nd minute. The try for Brown was the final shot on goal for either team in the game.

Notables

The Pirates remain unbeaten at 2-0-1 all-time against North Texas.
The shutout is the team's fourth of the season and second in which Dietrich and Taylor combined for the clean sheet.
Two players recorded their first points in Purple and Gold with AJ Mayock's goal and Sofia Serrano's assist.
Mayock scored a goal in her home state of Texas. Strangely, it has not been long since a non-North Carolinian Pirate scored a goal in her home state as Erica Roberts scored a goal in her native Florida in last season's American Conference Tournament Quarterfinal. Haley McWhirter was the last to do so in the regular season, at Houston in 2021.

Up Next: The Pirates finally return home on Thursday as they welcome Florida Atlantic to Bill Clark Homes Field at Johnson Stadium for a 7 p.m. match.