ECU Blanks Davidson 2-0 In Opener

August 24, 2013

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The East Carolina women's soccer team kicked off their 20th season of intercollegiate competition with a 2-0 victory over Davidson at Alumni Stadium on Friday night, giving Pirate head coach Rob Donnenwirth his 200th career victory.

The win is the Pirates' first season opening triumph since 2009 and first lid-lifting victory on the road since 2000. ECU (1-0) has now defeated Davidson (0-1) in three consecutive seasons.

"This was a very good win for us," Donnenwirth said. "Davidson played us very tough and put us under a lot of pressure. I was very proud of the way our team competed and battled. We've got a lot of work to do, but this was a good start."

The Wildcats had two scoring opportunities in the first 10 minutes, but were denied by Pirate sophomore goalkeeper Saundra Barron, who transferred to ECU from Coastal Carolina during the spring semester. She added another save after to halftime to collect three in the match.

Junior Skylar Poole, who made her first career start, broke the scoreless tie in the 49th minute scoring off a pass from freshman Lana Spitler to net her first career goal. Junior Lexi Miller started the play and got the ball over to Spitler who found Poole in the box for the game-winning goal.

The Pirates added an insurance goal with just over two minutes to play as freshman Kelsey Reeves put the ball into the back of the net, assisted by Spitler and Kelly Miller.

Eight players made their first career starts, including four freshmen. In addition to Poole and Spitler, junior Stephanie Seagrave and sophomore Jackie Cajigal were in the starting lineup for the first time along with rookies Jenna Geist, Caitlin Hite and Autumn Berry.

"Our freshmen really stepped up tonight," Donnenwirth said. "We were without a couple of key returners and the freshmen played really well in their absence. I'm very proud of the how they competed."

Despite being outshot 14-8, the Pirates only allowed three shots on goal while converting half of their shots on goals.

ECU continues its opening weekend road trip on Sunday at Elon. The match is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.