Pirates Earn 1-1 Draw at Temple | Eastern NC Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of ECU Sports.


    PHILADELPHIA, PA.     For the second straight conference game, the East Carolina soccer team went to overtime, this time at Temple, with the two teams settling for a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon.

    ECU is now 1-2-1 on the season with a 1-0-1 AAC record while Temple is 1-2-1 with a 0-2-1 conference mark.

    It took ECU 95 minutes to score against Houston in its conference opener, but the Pirate offense was much quicker off the mark against Temple. In just the fourth minute of play, ECU played a long ball out of the back and Annabelle Abbott was able to flick it on past a Temple defender. Madie Knaggs reached it first and beat one Temple defender before slotting it home past the onrushing Owl goalkeeper.

    The Pirates nearly got a second goal in the tenth minute. Cashlin Copley collected the ball at the top of the box and took a shot with her left foot that had the Temple keeper beat, but hit the right post and bounced out. The rebound fell to Abbott, but she was smothered by Temple's goalkeeper before getting a shot off.

    On the other end, ECU limited Temple's opportunities in the opening 45 minutes, allowing just two shots on goal. Maeve English was there to stop both of those shots, helping ECU take a 1-0 lead into the break.

    In the second half, the Owls equalized on a corner kick. Marissa DiGenova curled a cross in towards the near post and amid a scramble of bodies, Roisin McGovern did just enough to push the ball over the line for the tying goal.

    Both teams had chances to take the lead after McGovern's goal in the 62nd minute. ECU's best chance came in the 83rd minute. A Temple turnover led to a coutner attack and Tori Riggs fed Morgan Everett wide right. Everett got into the Temple box and tried a shot at the near post, but it hit the outside of the post and went wide.

    After neither team found a winner in regulation, the game went to overtime. The opening 10 minutes were controlled by ECU. Catherine Holbrook took three shots on goal, but all three were saved by Temple's Kamryn Stablein. In the second overtime, Erin Mikaelsen nearly got on the end of a cross from Knaggs and then Sydney Schnell pulled a shot just past the post with 29 seconds remaining. However, with neither chances producing goals, ECU was forced to settle for the draw.

    ECU finished with a 12-8 edge in shots and an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal. Both teams took five corners. English had three saves for ECU while Stablein had seven saves for the Owls.

    The Pirates will be back home next Sunday afternoon as they host USF. That game will be at 1 p.m., on ECUPirates.com.