Pirate Soccer Comes Up Short Against Colorado College
East Carolina suffers setback in C-USA opener

 

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Playing in its first Conference USA match of the 2013 season the East Carolina women’s soccer team fell, 1-0, to Colorado College Friday evening at the ECU Soccer Stadium.

 

“I thought our team played really hard,” said head coach Rob Donnenwirth. “They are a really good team and they were co-champions last year in the regular season. They came out with a new system this year so we had to do a lot during the week to prepare for them. I feel like we did a good job with a lot of it.”

 

The first half produced just a handful of scoring chances for both teams, but the game remained scoreless through the first 45 minutes of play. The Pirates took three shots in the period, while the Tigers had four. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Saundra Baron made three saves in the period.

 

When the teams returned from the intermission, the physical play picked up and ball possession became more difficult for both East Carolina (3-5-2) and Colorado College (6-3). The Tigers found a seam in the 79th minute however, as Kaeli Vandersluis struck a low, lining cross from the right end line that was deflected by an ECU defender before finding the foot of Sam Curran, who put the rebound into the back of the net to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

 

East Carolina squandered several scoring opportunities in the final 11 minutes of the contest, but were unable to generate an equalizer.

 

“I thought we created some chances and sometimes the final pass wasn’t quite there where we could have gotten some other chances,” Donnenwirth said. “Overall I thought the effort was fantastic. I thought it was a really good soccer game overall for both teams.”

 

Freshman Lana Spitler and junior Stephanie Seagrave led the Pirates with two shots apiece, while the entire defensive line comprised of junior Kelly Miller, junior Danielle Romano and sophomore Haley Patsey played all 90 minutes in the contest.

 

Baron finished the night with four saves, while Colorado College goalkeeper Kate Scheele recorded her fourth shutout in a row and sixth on the season.

 

East Carolina will remain at home and host Charlotte on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 2 p.m., at the ECU Soccer Stadium.