ECU Opens AAC Play With 1-0 Win at UCONN | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post appears here courtesy of the news and information section for East Carolina University men's and women's sports.


    HARTFORD, CONN.     A timely goal and outstanding defense helped the ECU soccer team open conference play with a 1-0 road win at Connecticut on Thursday night.

    "I couldn't be more proud of the effort put forth by our group today," said head coach Jason Hamilton. "To go on the road and get a win in conference is huge. I thought we had spells in the first half where we played well, but there were times where they were the better team."

    ECU improves its record to 4-5-1 overall and 1-0-0 in AAC play while the Huskies fall to 4-4-1 with a 0-1-0 conference mark.

    The Pirates took the lead in the 28th minute off a set piece. Daria Draovitch stepped up to take a corner kick from the left side and swung a cross into the middle of the Connecticut box. Jenna Dages jumped and directed a low header towards the far post. At first it looked like the Huskie goalkeeper had been able to dive and keep Dages' effort out of the goal, but the referee indicated the shot had crossed the goal line, setting off an ECU celebration.

    At halftime, ECU led 1-0 off that lone goal, but Connecticut came out determined to find an equalizer. The Huskies took nine shots and four corners in the second 45 minutes, to just three and one respectively for the Pirates. However, ECU limited the quality of UConn's shots, as just two of those attempts were on goal.

    "In the second half, I thought we showed much physicality and that's what you need to be able to hold off a team and protect a lead," Hamilton said.

    The Huskies had one final chance to level the score in the 88th minute when Sophia Danyko-Kulchycky took a shot from the right wing. But Melanie Stiles made the save for ECU and the Pirates did not let Connecticut take any more shots as they closed out the win.

    Connecticut finished with a 15-7 edge in shots, but had only three shots on goal while ECU had four shots hit the frame. The Huskies had a 6-3 edge in corner kicks. Melanie Stiles made three saves for ECU and Randi Palacios also had three stops for Connecticut.

    The win was the first time ECU has won on the road against the Huskies and the second straight year the Pirates have topped Connecticut, after winning 2-0 at home in 2018.

    "Leading up to this game, we talked about believing in ourselves and knowing we are capable of winning game," Hamilton added. "We challenged players to step up and fil the shoes of the players we are missing. It was a great team win tonight."

    The Pirates will continue their road trip when they head to Temple for a Sunday match. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., in Philadelphia, Pa.
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Gameday: ECU Travels to Old Dominion Women's Soccer, East Carolina University, Sports Start of Practice Ushers in New Season


HbAD0

Latest Sports

NFL MVP Cam Newton appeared to be involved in a physical confrontation over the weekend and a 7-on-7 youth football camp.
Two adult males have been arrested and charged with murder in last week’s Kansas City parade shooting where one person was killed and 22 others were injured, Missouri prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Chiefs players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce along with the Kansas City team donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to victims of the Super Bowl victory parade shooting, which left one person dead and 22 people injured.
The shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade on Wednesday that killed one person and injured more than 20 others appeared to stem from a personal dispute and had no connection to terrorism, according to the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.
The College Football Playoff (CFP) Board of Managers announced on Tuesday that the College Football Playoff would expand from four teams to 12 teams starting this upcoming season.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes credited God with the team’s Super Bowl LVIII win after coming from behind to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime on Sunday.
After a hard-fought but relatively low-scoring game, the Kansas City Chiefs came away with a 25-22 victory in Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
Two minors have been charged in connection to the deadly shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade earlier this week, authorities announced on Friday.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce admitted to letting his emotions get the best of him during Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.

HbAD1

The game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers became the most watched Super Bowl ever after bringing in more than 123 million viewers on Sunday.
Multiple people were shot and at least one was killed when gunfire erupted at a parade celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win this week.
University of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh, who led his team to a national championship victory over the Washington Huskies earlier this month, briefly addressed the crowd gathered for the 51st annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday.
Opening at 20-1 that the rookie from Clemson would score a TD, as he had in the regular season, da Bears' loving public steamed the wager down to 4-1 by kickoff.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers hit back at journalists who he said are still upset he didn’t take the COVID-19 vaccine.
An NFL game almost became watchable today, but was saved at the last moment by veteran referee John Ross.
Bill Belichick is out as head coach of the New England Patriots after 24 years and leading the team to nine Super Bowl trips and six rings.
With American bases in Iraq and Syria increasingly suffering direct hits from Hezbollah and Houthi ballistic missiles, the recent confirmation of Iranian made "358" systems in theatre may explain the failure of Western anti-drone air-defense programming.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top