Last-second heroics lift Pirates

The Lady Pirate soccer team defeated conference foes Tulsa and SMU last weekend, extending their unbeaten run to six games. ECU (10-3-1, 5-0-1) beat Tulsa with a last second golden goal in double OT on Friday and then defeated SMU 2-1 on Sunday. The Lady Pirates extended their conference lead to four points over Colorado College.

Against Tulsa, ECU dominated the game unleashing 20 shots to only five for the Golden Hurricane. But, despite the Lady Pirates attacking verve, they failed to find the back of the net until, with four seconds remaining on the clock, senior forward Blair Heffner slotted home a Nicole Moore corner kick to give them a 1-0 victory.

It was Heffner's fourth goal of the season, which ties her for the team lead with junior Alexis Foltz.

ECU came close to scoring numerous occasions in regular time, putting a total of nine shots on goal. Heffner sent a shot just wide in the 10th minute and Foltz rattled the woodwork in the 70th, but the Lady Pirates were unable to find the back of the net. And when it looked as though the game would end in a scoreless draw, Heffner beat the keeper for her conference leading third game-winning goal.

When asked how it felt to tally the game winner, Heffner said, "Amazing."

She was also pleased with the team's performance over the weekend.

"I think we played really well," the senior said. "We needed to step it up this weekend, like always, and I think we did that. And, I think the practices leading up to it helped a lot."

Sunday the Lady Pirates faced SMU, who were in second-to-last place in the conference. ECU took the lead in the 37th minute when Foltz put home a cross from sophomore Tricia Tufts. The Lady Pirates doubled that lead in the 76th minute when freshman Amanda Malkiewicz was put in a one-on-one with the SMU goalkeeper by fellow freshman Leah Bagonis, and placed it in the left corner for the eventual game-winner.

The Mustangs would pull one back three minutes later, but then the Lady Pirates shut up shop and held SMU without a shot for the remainder of the contest to hang on the for 2-1 victory.

Head Coach Rob Donnenwirth spoke about his team's play this weekend.

"The biggest thing I think we're doing well is the energy we play with on the field," said Donnenwirth. "We're playing as a group really well and making it difficult for other teams to get in a rhythm when they have the ball. And then we're doing well transitioning into our offense and creating good chances."

Donnenwirth emphasized the word "good" due to the team's habit of not wasting opportunities or making bad decisions. ECU ranks last in the conference in shots per game, but is second in the conference in shots on goal, which points to their solid build-up play and accurate shooting.

"I think it's the quality of shots that we're creating which has helped us out," Donnenwirth said. "We are getting a lot of clear chances instead of taking bad shots on half-chances. In that respect I think we're doing very well."

However, Donnenwirth stressed that while the team is playing well, there is a lot of soccer still to be played.

"Obviously we're happy where we are this point. 5-0-1 is very good, but we have sixteen points in our league right now and there's still 15 points up for grabs," he said. "We're basically just half way done with conference play. We're happy where we are right now, but we have to stay focused and do the things we need to do."

The Lady Pirates have another important home weekend coming up. They will host Colorado College Friday at 4 p.m. and then take on UTEP Sunday at noon. Colorado is second in C-USA with 12 points and UTEP isn't too far behind, with 10.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.