ECU Hosts UTEP Friday Night In C-USA Opener

Pirates Look To Improve To 4-1 In Home Matches

<P><B>GREENVILLE, N.C. - </B>The East Carolina women’s soccer team opens Conference USA play this weekend hosting UTEP (Friday, 7 p.m. ET) and Colorado College (Sunday, 12 noon ET) at the ECU Soccer Stadium.

<P>The Pirates (4-4) are coming off a 2-1 road win at instate rival UNC Wilmington and look to carry that momentum into league play this weekend, where the own a 3-1 record at home.

<P>Sophomore Stephanie Seagrave and senior Chrissy Gratz (game-winner) each scored goals against the Seahawks pushing their tallies to two along with redshirt sophomore Lexi Miller. True Freshman Kendall Frey and senior Hali Oughton also have strikes on the season accounting for eight of ECU’s nine goals. The Pirates were credited with a goal at High Point on an own goal.

<P>Redshirt sophomore Danielle Romano leads the club with three assists, while fifth-year senior Rachel Fuller and sophomore Kelly Miller have added a pair. Oughton, along with fellow classmate Katlin Povich and redshirt junior Brittany Batts have added assists during non-conference action.

<P>While the opposition is accounting for 1.62 goals per game, ECU's defense is much better than those numbers indicate. Eight of its 13 goals allowed on the year have come on the road in losses at Notre Dame (five goals) and South Carolina (three).

<P>The Pirates have posted two shutouts while keeping three other squads to just one goal. ECU has relied on junior Christiane Cordero to handle all the goalkeeping duties thus far, compiling 24 saves in 723 minutes of work.

<P>UTEP enters the weekend sporting a 7-2 overall record and have won its last three matches by a score of 6-1.

<P>Tess Hall has been on a tear since the onset of the campaign. She leads C-USA in assists (six) and points (16) while sharing the top spot for goals (five). Hall is among the best in the nation as well, checking in ninth for assists per game, 39th in points per game and 96th in goals per game.

<P>Three other players are helping the Miners attack in Azia Nicholson (4G, 3A), Jade Babcock (3G, 3A) and Mackenzie German (4G, A). In addition to Hall, Skye Schultz (four), Nicholson (three), Babcock (three) and Tori Martyn (three) are among the team leaders in assists.

<P>Defensively the Miners have posted three shutouts while keeping three other foes to just one goal. The 1.11 goals against average are good enough for fifth amongst all C-USA schools.

<P>Just like her counterpart, Sarah Dilling has played every minute of every match, allowing her to rank tied for the league lead in shutouts at three. The sophomore has compiled 30 saves while posting a .750 save percentage.