Ties improve ECU's chance for title

The ECU soccer team earned a 3-3 tie with defending Conference USA champion Memphis on Sunday at Bunting Field, getting scores from three different players to remain unbeaten in the league. The Pirates' second-consecutive draw pushes their record to 11-3-4 overall and 6-0-4 in conference play while the Tigers are now 11-4-2 on the season and 7-2-1 in C-USA.

The tie means that ECU can clinch no worse than a share of the league title with a win over Marshall at Bunting Field on Friday. The Pirates could also earn the championship outright with a win and a Memphis loss or tie at UAB on Thursday. ECU would also take the No. 1 seed with a win Friday due to earning two ties against UCF and Colorado College while the Tigers lost to both of those squads.

"Memphis is a team that has great possession and is very dangerous offensively," said ECU coach Rob Donnenwirth. "Give our ladies credit though because we battled and stuck to our game plan very well. We will put this behind and get ready for another important game against Marshall on Friday."

Memphis dominated possession throughout the game and recorded eight straight shots to begin the contest. However, it was sophomore Bailey Wilcox who put the Pirates ahead in the 30th minute. Freshman Amanda Malkiewicz took a run down the right side of the field and slipped a ball past the defense, which found Wilcox, who powered the ball into the net past Tiger keeper Jordan Boyle for her first goal of the season. Memphis would equalize just a minute and a half later, when Elizabeth Hildebrandt crossed the ball from the right side and found the head of Krista Turner, who put it into the back of the net past a diving ECU keeper, senior Amber Campbell.

Despite added pressure, the Tigers could not score for the remainder of the stanza as the game balanced, 1-1 at halftime. Memphis out-shot the Pirates 14-2 in the first half while fouls were even at four.

A duo of corners won by ECU in the first 10 minutes of the second interval proved valuable, as senior Blair Heffner and sophomore Amanda Broz both beat Boyle, three minutes apart, to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead. Senior Nicole Moore picked up an assist on both plays.

Eleven minutes later, the Tigers rallied, scoring goals by Kylie Hayes and Lizzy Simonin, just five minutes apart to even the contest at 3-3 and send it to overtime. The shot margin was much closer in the second half, as Memphis unleashed eight shots as compared to five for ECU.

The Tigers had a great chance to end the game in the first overtime period, but Simonin hit the crossbar and was unable to get to the rebound as the Pirate defense cleared.

On Friday, ECU rallied twice to earn a valuable point on the road as it tied UAB, 2-2, at West Campus Field in Birmingham.

The tie ensured that the Pirates will end the season unbeaten on the road in C-USA, a program first.

UAB scored quickly, receiving a strike from Laura McCalla in the eighth minute to put ECU behind for the first time in conference play, a span of eight games. However, the Pirates would equalize 11 minutes later when junior Alexis Foltz scored her team-leading fifth goal in C-USA matches, an unassisted tally that tied the match at 1-1.

"This was a hard fought game," Donnenwirth said. "UAB played with a lot of energy and emotion and we battled hard for the tie. Madison scored a great goal to tie it up and Amber came up with some big saves."

The Blazers out-shot ECU 8-4 in the first half while also committing more fouls, 5-2. Pirate netminder Amber Campbell came up with three saves as opposed to her counterpart's two.

ECU allowed UAB eight consecutive shots to begin the second stanza and the Blazers capitalized on the eighth chance when Tiffini Turpin scored to put her side in front, 2-1. It is the first time that the Pirates have allowed more than one goal in conference play. Just when it looked like ECU would be sent home empty-handed, a senior stepped up and gave the Pirates new life. Just six minutes after the Blazers went ahead, Madison Keller took a ball from fellow senior Savanna Russo and buried it into the back of the net, evening the score line at two.

Each squad recorded four shots in the overtime, but none of the chances found their mark as the contest ended at 2-2. UAB sorely out-shot ECU 23-9 while Campbell made a season-high 12 saves.

ECU closes out the regular season on Halloween Friday, as it takes on Marshall at Bunting Field. The contest is scheduled for 3 p.m.