ECU women’s soccer drops a close one to Memphis in overtime

The East Carolina University women’s soccer team lost a close match to American Athletic Conference opponent the University of Memphis on Sunday, losing 2-1 in overtime. The loss drops the Pirates to 5-3-2 overall and 0-2 in conference.

The Pirates faced a potent offense in the Tigers, but weathered their attack well in the first half, as Memphis took 10 shots, but only three were on goal and sophomore keeper Melanie Stiles kept the Tigers scoreless.

While the Pirates were dominated in shots taken in the first half 10 to three, they made their few shots count, as they scored just before halftime to take the lead off a cross by junior midfielder Daria Draovich to sophomore forward Cashlin Copley who scored.

The Pirates defense came out strong again in the second half, keeping Memphis scoreless until the ball deflected on a Memphis cross, hitting a Pirate player in the hand and set up a penalty kick for the Tigers. The Tigers scored on the penalty tying the game 1-1. Neither team could score again in regulation, sending the game into overtime.

It didn’t take long in overtime for the Tigers to strike as forward Samantha Murphy received a cross into the Pirate box and scored to end the game 02:53 into the first overtime period.

Despite the closeness of the game, the Tigers dominated the Pirates in both shots (27-7) and corner kicks (8-3). The close game was a testament to the Pirate defense and goalkeeper Stiles finished the game with seven stops, her second game with at least seven stops so far this season.

After a strong start to the season, the ECU soccer team has started AAC play in a similar fashion to last season, where it finished just 1-8 in conference play. Standing at 0-2, the Pirates will look to flip the switch and move up in the AAC standings.

The Pirates will stay at home for their next two games, hosting the University of Houston at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Southern Methodist University at 2 p.m. on Sunday.