East Carolinian

Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Lavinia Tyrrell

The women's soccer team is looking forward to returning home. Coming off a four game road trip where they went 1-1-2, ECU (5-5-2, 0-1-1 Conference USA) looks for their first conference win as Marshall travels to Bunting Field.

The Pirates have never lost to the Thundering Herd with the only game coming last year in Huntington, W.Va. Despite Marshall's record (4-5-1, 0-2-0 C-USA), Rob Donnenwirth knows his team is in for some tough competition.

"Marshall is a good team that's faced some good competition," ECU's all-time winningiest head coach said.

Marshall and ECU both played Memphis and UAB over the past weekend. ECU tied Memphis 1-1 and lost to UAB in overtime 1-0. Marshall played on alternate days, recording an 8-0 loss to the Tigers and a 3-2 defeat to the Blazers.

In four seasons, Chris Kane, a 1995 graduate of LaSalle University has coached the Thundering Herd to an 11-49-5 record. His squad is led by junior Kassie Hollman, who through 10 games has recorded seven goals and 17 points for the team, which ranks as sixth and seventh in conference respectively.

The Pirates will also have to contend with freshman Julia Axelsson, who is second on the team with 19 points and four goals scored.

The Friday tilt is a must win for the Pirates because they are winless in the conference with only seven games remaining. Donnenwirth is stressing for the forwards to step up and for the defense to continue its strong play. As of the game against Penn, ECU is 3-1 after a loss. However, the Pirates are last in the conference for shots attempted with only 107 total through 12 games. In comparison, the Thundering Herd is 10th in conference with 127. ECU is 1-2 at home.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools