ECU Hosts Cincinnati In Pivotal AAC Match

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GREENVILLE, NC – With a chance to cement its place in the AAC top four, the East Carolina soccer team will host Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon.

“It will be a good game on Saturday,” said the head coach Jason Hamilton. “Both teams have a lot to play and it’s always a struggle when we meet. I would expect it to be a physical game by two very good defensive teams.”

ECU (2-3-2, 2-1-2) take a dramatic 3-2 win at SMU in extra time. The pirates opened the scoring in the 61st minute by a Carsen Parker Penalty, but the Mustangs responded four minutes later. An own goal in the 86th minute seemed like a disaster for ECU, however Tori Riggs ran on a Parker pass and scored in the 88th minute to send the game into overtime. The Pirates claimed victory when Parker scored a pass from Morgan Dewey only 3:05 in extra time. That gave ECU eight points in the conference game, placing the Pirates in third place and four points from the fifth temple in the race for fourth and final place in the AAC championship.

“I think both groups will have a lot of confidence,” said Hamilton. “We both got good results and know that we can all control our own destiny to win the conference tournament.”

After her five-point day against the Mustangs, Parker was named AAC Offensive Player of the Week, becoming the first player in AAC history to be named League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week that same season. Parker leads the Pirates with seven points on three goals and one assist, while Dewey has one goal and two assistants. Madie Knaggs is the only other multi-goal pirate to have scored twice this season, while Riggs has scored a goal and assist and scored the penalty against SMU in the last two games.

Defensive, Maeve English continues to be one of the conference’s top goalkeepers. She has been named AAC Goalkeeper of the Week twice this season and has made 22 saves this year. Kim Sanford is still a stone in the middle of East Carolina’s defense and her 580 minutes of Trails played in English only. Dewey and Maycie McDougal were stalwarts on the outer back rolls while Addison salt has joined the defense and has played a total of 204 minutes in the last two games, with Parker moving to the center-forward.

Cincinnati (3-4-0, 2-3-0) have won two games after starting 1-4. The Bearcats win Houston 1-0 in extra time. Kendall Battle scored the game winner in this competition and leads Cincinnati by two goals. Along with the two goals from Battle, five Bearcats scored a goal while six provided an assist. In goal, Anna Rexford has played every minute this season, making 21 saves while allowing eight goals.

The last time Cincinnati and ECU met was on Halloween 2019, the Pirates needed a win to advance to the AAC Championship but had to settle for a 0-0 draw. That made the all-time series 7-2-2 in favor of Cincinnati, though ECU has been 1-0-1 against the Bearcats since Hamilton arrived in Greenville. The last time the two teams met in Greenville was in 2018 and Sanford was founded Cashlin Copley for the only objective of the game.

“In order for us to be successful, we have to continue efficiency ahead of the goal we had last weekend,” added Hamilton. “I think our chances will be limited, so we have to take what we get.”

The kick-off is scheduled for noon on Saturday and the game will be broadcast on ESPN +. All fans who want to take part in the game can find the current conditions of participation from ECU Here.