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MULTIMEDIA |
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Audio: The
Brian Bailey Show |
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  The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest this week was
East Carolina
strength and
conditioning sage
Jeff Connors
(right):
Replay
show... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Tide transfer punting
for Pirates |
Worth Gregory spent a year
in the storied football
program at Alabama before
bringing his punting ability
to East Carolina. When Trent
Tignor completed his
eligibility in 2013 with a
42.8-yard average for two
seasons, Gregory gave the
Pirates someone ready to
continue providing an edge ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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15 Questions
for Devaris Brunson |
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 Devaris Brunson
(6-1,230) heads into
his sophomore year
with the Pirates
after a true
freshman campaign in
which he helped the
team in several
different roles. The
South Carolina
native played all
four years of high
school football on
the varsity level
for Lake City High
School. He was rated
a four-star prospect
by Scout.com ...
More from W.A.
Myatt... |
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Pictured: Devaris
Brunson basked in
the glow of victory
after East
Carolina's win over
Ohio in last
December's Beef 'O'
Brady's Bowl in
Tampa, FL. The blue
chip recruit
experienced action
on offense, defense
and special teams in
11 contests as a
true freshman. (W.A.
Myatt file photo) |
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By
Bethany Bradsher
�2014 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
Preseason coaches� polls are a rite of late summer for fall sports, but
that doesn�t mean coaches, players or fans have to put much stock in them.
If anything, East Carolina soccer coach Rob Donnenwirth looks at his team�s
name, sitting at No. 8 out of 10 teams in their new American Athletic
Conference, and he is delighted.
Being underestimated is a plus for Donnenwirth and his team, he said,
especially in a new conference in which they are basically an unknown
quantity. With one exhibition game in the books, he believes he is looking
at a better team than last year, when the Pirates went 9-9-3 and won six out
of the last seven games of the season before falling to Colorado College in
the Conference USA semifinals.
With 23 returning players, including a year of seasoning for one of the
most talented freshmen classes Donnenwirth has ever welcomed to Greenville,
the team is ready to defy expectations, and they believe that a home match
this Friday against South Carolina is the perfect place to start.
With top teams like Connecticut, Central Florida and Memphis ready to
greet them on The American schedule, Donnenwirth scheduled a trial-by-fire
warm-up with non-conference opponents like the Gamecocks, considered one of
the top three squads in the SEC, and Virginia Tech, which went to the Final
Four last year.
As part of the ramp-up to those Division I opponents, the Pirates played
an exhibition game against Longwood last Friday, which they won 1-0 on a
goal from freshman Courtney Taybron.
�We�ll be ready for them,� Donnenwirth said of South Carolina, which
edged out ECU 1-0 in Columbia last year. �They are a good possession team.
They love to get a lot of balls into the box, so we need to be ready for
that and work on clearances, and we have to be able to keep the ball.�
The focus in the short preseason, Donnenwirth said, has been big-picture
game strategy and sharpening the team�s set pieces, but soon the focus will
shift to game-preparation mode. The exhibition game was helpful in helping
Donnenwirth experiment with different lineups and to watch freshmen like
Taybron perform under game-like conditions.
Senior Kelly Miller, who plays outside back and has been with the team
since her freshman year, said that the preseason workouts were unusually
taxing, but she can already see a difference in the team�s readiness.
�We�re definitely very young, with 10 freshmen, 10 sophomores, so they
will have to be key players,� Miller said. �Team chemistry is one of our
strongest points. We all get along extremely well. Preseason has been one of
the toughest I�ve ever had, but I think it�s benefited us.�
Miller and Kelley Johnson, both senior captains, will help anchor the
backfield for the Pirates, and the defense will benefit from their
experience and from the speed and consistency of younger players like
sophomore Kaitlyn Hite, who was named first team All-Conference-USA last
season and selected preseason all-conference by the American.
In the midfield, Donnenwirth will look to another senior captain,
Stephanie Seagraves, to find some scoring opportunities as an attacking
center midfielder, and sophomore Lana Spitler is expected to be a force from
the right mid position. Up top, junior Kendall Frey will look to build on
her team-high six goals and 13 points from 2013 at center forward, and
freshman Brittany Fary is coming out of the gate looking strong on offense
as well, Donnenwirth said.
With some early-season injuries and a young roster, the learning curve
will continue through the non-conference slate, but Miller and her teammates
have confidence in their preparation and their ability to go toe-to-toe with
anyone. For fans who can get out to the soccer stadium on Friday night, that
attitude could help start off the season in style.
�It�s definitely a very different feeling going in this year,� Miller
said. �I�ve always had that drive to perform hard, but now, this is it. I
want this team to be successful more than anything. I want to see us go
really far and make some history in the new conference.�
East
Carolina football
coach Ruffin McNeill
spoke briefly with
the press after
Thursday's practice
session. (Recorded
by Brian Bailey;
archive photo by W.A.
Myatt.) ...