ECU Opens Season At Radford | Eastern NC Now

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



    GREENVILLE, N.C.     Coming off a season that finished one game short of a spot in the AAC Championship, the East Carolina lacrosse team will start its journey towards cracking the league's top four with its season opener at Radford on Saturday afternoon.

    East Carolina finished the 2021 season with a 4-12 overall record and the Pirates went 2-8 in AAC play. ECU battled Cincinnati on the final day of the regular season with the winner clinching the final spot in the AAC Championship and despite a comeback from six goals down, the Pirates dropped a 14-13 heartbreaker to end the season.

    The leading scorer from that game, Nicole LeGar, will return to headline the Pirates' roster. LeGar is coming off a season that saw her earn AAC Second-Team All-Conference honors and she became the first player in Pirate history to reach 100 career points. The Eldersburg, Md., native was recently named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference team and holds the East Carolina career record in points (122), draw controls (166), ground balls (84) and caused turnovers (47). The other returning All-Conference player for the Pirates is France Kimel, who joined LeGar on the Second-Team All-Conference squad. Kimel finished her sophomore campaign with 36 points on 24 goals and 12 assists. Rounding out the trio of returning Pirates with at least 30 points a season ago is Megan Tryniski, who had 21 goals and 16 assists for 37 points.

    Defensively, Alexandra Giacolone returns after causing a team-best 20 turnovers during her rookie season. LeGar was third on the team in caused turnovers with 26 while Cece Bartley had 15. LeGar (56), Camryn Pennypacker (31), Payton Barr (23) and Kimel (21) all return after each racking up 20-plus draw controls. LeGar led the team with 29 ground balls while Giacolone had 27. Along with LeGar, who will be playing in her fifth season in the Purple and Gold, the Pirate defensive corps will have a pair of fifth-year players on it, as Jordyn Cox and Sam Caputo return.

    Radford finished the 2021 season with a 6-12 overall record, but went 4-2 in Big South play and reached the league's Championship Final, falling to top seeded High Point 20-7. The Highlanders were picked to finish in sixth in the conference in the Big South Preseason Coaches Poll. It will be the first season in charge for head coach Samantha Hurley and she will rely on Grace Gleason, who returns after earning Big South Second-Team All-Conference honors. Gleason was third on the team in goals, with 21, and fourth in points having racked up 23. She also added 28 ground balls, 20 draw controls and seven caused turnovers.

    It will be the first ever meeting between East Carolina and Radford, but the Pirates have had success against the Big South Conference. ECU is 9-6 all-time against Big South opponents, including 6-1 since the start of the 2020 season. It will be the fourth straight season the Pirates have opened the season against a Big South team. ECU beat Winthrop (2019) and Furman (2021) at home during that span, falling at Furman in 2020. Adding in a loss against George Washington in 2018, ECU is 2-2 all-time in season openers.