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For the ECU women’s team, tonight could best be described as one more rung in the ladder to prove themselves worthy of big-time status. After taking on Texas, the women are now eyeing the upset-bid at sixth-ranked Florida (by the NSCAA).

(ECU SID)

Troxler needs to come up big now for the Pirates.

“Friday night, we are playing one of the premier programs in the country,” coach Rob Donnenwirth said. “Florida might be the most athletic team in the country.”

Undaunted by a road game that will certainly draw a crowd of possibly 3,000 spectators, Donnenwirth doled out the kudos to tonight’s opponent, but cautioned that ECU intends to play.

“I was able to watch two of Florida’s games from the Sunshine Network,” Donnenwirth said. “They were very impressive. They always had big-time speed and are very physical. This year, they also play an attractive style of soccer and can attack in many different ways. They have already beaten three ranked opponents and I think they will compete for the national championship when it’s all said and done.”

Still, Donnenwirth did not bring his club down to Gainesville for a moral victory. They are here to win and get better. Defensively, the Pirates (2-1-1) are trying to close ranks behind new goalie Lindsi Troxler, who is now the full time keeper. Lauren Church was lossed for the season to an injury and now the Pirates no longer have an opportunity to go with the hot goalie.

“Lauren Church is out for the year with an injury,” he said. “Lindsi Troxler did a great job in goal (at the Charlotte Classic).”

Still, it will take the rest of the backliners to keep the Gators (4-0-0) off the goal and for the rest of the team to take the attack to the opponent.

Tonight could be the right time for an out of conference upset, given that the team is rolling after having collected the Charlotte Classic championship by virtue of a win over UNC-Wilmington and a double-overtime tie with Delaware.

“We played two very good teams (at the Charlotte Classic),” Donnenwirth reflected. “UNC-W is much improved and Delaware had some dangerous players. With this in mind we were happy to win the UNCC Tournament. We would like to have won both games but our team competed hard. I thought we would be able to possess the ball better than we did but both teams were tough defending.”

The game tonight marks ECU’s second game all-time versus the Gators. In 1995, it was all Florida in a 7-0 pasting.

In the High Point make up game tonight, the Pirates are looking to stay hot and gain more confidence. At 2-1-1 (0-1-0 in C-USA), the Pirates take back to the road after coming off a resounding 3-0 home victory against Campbell.

More importantly, the Pirates are playing good defense right now and facing a team that got its first goal of the season, ECU could have the advantage tonight. Coach Michael Benn saw some good things in the Campbell win.

(ECU SID)

Kowaleski is among the

league scoring leaders.

“I thought we played very well, especially in the second half,” Benn said. “To earn our first shutout of the year in our home opener was very exciting. Our team defending has improved with each game. Our boys really finished the game well. Being up 2-0 at halftime sometimes, your team can take their foot off of the accelerator. We stayed with the game plan and did not allow Campbell any dangerous chances.”

More importantly, freshman goalie Brian Pope continues to gain experience without it coming at the cost of wins and other Pirates are getting needed playing time.

“Brian Pope earned his first career shutout versus Campbell,” Benn pointed out. “(And) Chris Mobley scored his first career goal. Mike McClain saw his first action of the year (since suffering a broken bone in his foot on the first day of preseason). David Rowe made his first start of the year against Campbell (since being injured in Duke Scrimmage).”

Benn is getting excited as he sees his team develop and hopes that they can continue to grow.

“Pope is getting more confident every time out,” Benn said. “He has done a real good job in goal. Adam Combs has done a good job as a flank midfielder. His energy and work rate are second to none. Calvin Simon, Mobley, Mike Crowley and Mark Djurovski have all started at least one game this early into the season. Our depth is the best it has been in my five years with the program. Matt Kowaleski is doing a great job off the bench. He is our leading scorer right now and among the leaders in C-USA. He is very dangerous 1v1. Our backline has been steady. Clyde Simms continues to do all of the little things necessary to win games but do not show up in the boxscore. His leadership has been tremendous.”

If confidence and excitement are proper gages for the future, ECU is already in a different place from a year ago. How it translates as the C-USA schedule gets hot in the coming weeks is something all together different.

For now, though, the Pirates are playing as well as most of its competition in the league.

On Friday, looking to continue where it left off against Elon, the Pirates remained unbeaten on the season. However, the streak came at the cost of a draw rather than the gaining of a victory. Junior forward Josh Foltz tallied the equalizer at the 72:45 mark in the contest, finally breaking the goal line by finishing a mad scramble in front of the net on a ball served up by freshman Mark Djurovski. The Pirates, who outshot the Bulldogs 19-10 on the day, had other opportunities to score in the game, but could not convert. Credit the backline and frosh keeper Brian Pope (3 saves) for holding on for the tie.

“I was very proud of how our guys played,” coach Michael Benn said. “We played tough and good soccer. We defended well. I think we were a bit unlucky not to get the win.”

On Sunday, the Pirates fell victim to a late Charlotte goal to drop the Conference-USA opener, 1-0. In an excellently-contested game, the Pirates could not recover from a goal in the 88^th minute by 49ers star Mira Mupier. The overtime loss was the first for the Pirates this season.

"I was very happy with our guy's effort and competitiveness today. We rose to the level we needed to be at," ECU head coach Michael Benn said. "We just weren't quite as sharp as we needed to be, but things will continue to work out as we progress through the season and keep trying to reach our goal of making it to the conference tournament.”

Goalie Brian Pope registered 5 saves, while the Pirates were out-shot 11-7 on the contest.

On Wednesday, ECU rebounded to shutout Campbell 3-0 in the home-opener for the Pirates. Coming off a long road trip to start the season, a Charlotte loss appeared to already be history as the Pirates went about the game in a business-like fashion.

Junior forward Matt Kowaleski led the Pirates attack, tallying once and setting up the other two scores for ECU as the team saw an offensive output heavily in their favor with a 23-10 shots on goal advantage. With the victory, freshman goalkeeper Brian Pope recorded his first collegiate shutout.

Last season’s top scorer Brian Deutsch scored the game-winner in the 33^rd minute converting on a pass sequence from Reed Avren through Kowaleski. Freshman middie Chris Mobley found twine for the first time as an ECU Pirate, burying a pass from Clyde Simms. Simms served up Kowaleski for the final goal midway through the second half.

“Our schedule to this point has been challenging. To open up with 3 games on the road and come out 1-1-1 is a big step for this team. Our away record the past few years has not been good. I think our team has learned what it takes to be successful on the road. I am encouraged by our improvement every time out. We have defended well so far (0.70 gaa) and that needs to continue if we are to reach our goals. Getting results always helps with your confidence, but I think how you play is more of a motivating factor. If we had beaten Campbell but not played well, I do not think we would be feeling as good about where we are as a team right now.”

ECU is making up a postponed game from the opening week of the season and it may not be to the Pirates’ advantage. High Point is jacked after getting its first win, a 1-0 win over Wofford. Richard Hanson (goal, assist) is the team’s leading attacker.

“High Point is an opponent that we have not had a lot of success against in the past,” Benn said. “The are a big physical team that just picked up their first win against Wofford. Both teams played on Wednesday, so much will depend on who is more fit.”

The following table lists the leading scorers in 2003 for Conference-USA through Thursday, September 11:

Player

Team

Goals

Assists

Total

Points

WEST, Hunter	South Florida	6	0	12
HELM, Drew	South Florida	2	4	8
KOHLMEYER, Blair	Marquette	4	0	8
KOWALESKI, Matt	East Carolina	3	2	8
BIRD, Simon	Louisville	3	1	7
IBISEVIC, Vedad	Saint Louis	2	2	6
JOHN, Will	Saint Louis	2	1	5
MONTIERO, Jersun	UAB	2	1	5
DiRAIMONDO, John	Saint Louis	2	0	4
METCALF, Andy	Memphis	2	0	4
O’BRIEN, Dayton	Memphis	2	0	4
POMEROY, Ryan	Louisville	2	0	4
FLYNN, Sean	Marquette	1	1	3
LEE, Chris	Marquette	1	1	3
PEPLINSKI, David	Saint Louis	1	1	3

PUSEK, Marin	UAB	1	1	3
AVREN, Reed	East Carolina	0	2	2
DEUTSCH, Brian	East Carolina	1	0	2
FOLTZ, Josh	East Carolina	1	0	2
GUTIERREZ, Derek	Marquette	0	2	2
BLOUIN, Matt	Marquette	1	0	2
LEWIS, Justin	Cincinnati	1	0	2
MOBLEY, Chris	East Carolina	1	0	2
NIKCHEVICH, Ryan	Marquette	0	2	2
PATRICK, Wiremu	Cincinnati	1	0	2

PIERRE, Justin	Louisville	1	2
RAYO, Jose	UAB	1	2
ROJO, Luke	DePaul	1	2
TOLOMELLI, Fernando	Louisville	1	2

On Friday, at the 2^nd Annual Charlotte Classic, the Pirates posted their second shutout in a row, upping their record to 2-1-0 on the young season. Meghan McCallion buried the game-winner in the 70^th minute finishing a nice pass from Stephanie Walker. The big story in the win over Wilmington (1-2), however, was the staunch play of goalie Lindsi Troxler, who turned back five of UNC-W’s best scoring opportunities en route to posting the shutout victory – Troxler’s first as a Pirate. ECU outshot the Seahawks 14-9 on the contest.

“Overall, I think we struggled a bit today,” Coach Rob Donnenwirth said. “We missed a few opportunities to get on the board early. Wilmington always seems to be a tough and physical team for us. They are well-coached and they bring it every time. But, the bottom line is that we won today.”

Though they did not win the battle against Delaware, the Pirates did win the war in terms of capturing the UNC-Charlotte Classic over the weekend when the team knotted up a 1-1 tie in double-overtime with Delaware on Sunday. The tie combined with the Friday win over UNC-W garnered ECU the UNCC title for 2003.

Sophomore goalie Lindsi Troxler came through big for the Pirates, stepping into injured goalie Lauren Church’s shoes after the starter was injured. Troxler gave up one goal in 200 minutes of action over the weekend. She also collected her first career shutout over Wilmington on Friday.

Sophomore Rachelle Cebeceiras tallied for ECU just before the intermission, converting a pass from Penny Perrot to rally for the tie. Troxler turned away a number of Blue Hens opportunities to preserve the tie and claim the title.

"Overall we are happy that we won the Charlotte Classic," said head coach Rob Donnenwirth. "Penny (Perrott) had a great weekend and our midfield defending got a lot better throughout this week and the tournament, which was good to see. I think the effort is there, we just need to click better as a team. We need to work off the ball, run off the ball and our passing needs to be better. These are some things that we need to work on this week to help prepare for the Gators."

ECU sophomore goalie Lauren Church will not return in 2003 after suffering an injury over the weekend. It remains to be seen if she will gain a medical redshirt…Four Pirates were named to the Charlotte Classic all-tournament team. Penny Perrott, Rachelle Cabeceiras, Tina Rivera, and Meghan McCallion were honored. Perrott, who was dominating on defense, garnered Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament…Charlotte sophomore and 2002 scoring champion Courtney Crandell was named to the 2003 watch list for the Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s highest individual honor. In being named, Crandell became the first-ever C-USA player named to the list… Charlotte’s Jill Hayes moved into a tie for eighth-place in the program scoring history when she tallied her 14^th career goal in a 3-1 win over Delaware…DePaul’s Julianna Sitch is emerging as one of the league’s top scorers this season. Over the weekend she recorded back-to-back multi-goal games and currently sits atop the league scoring list while her team rides a 3-game win streak…Saint Louis parlayed a 1-0 win over a strong Air Force team to capture the Toys for Tots/Military Academies Women’s Soccer Classic over the weekend. Saint Louis is undefeated so far this season…Former South Florida star Kristine Edner was named to the Norwegian World Cup squad, becoming the sixth player from a Logan Fleck team to garner such an honor…After four contests, Southern Miss remains unbeaten at 3-0-1, something that was not expected…Tulane coach Betsy Anderson was hoping to spoil her own reunion with her alma mater, N.C. State, but the Wolfpack proved too much for the Green Wave, winning 4-2 in the reunion game.

“Playing top-level teams makes us a better team. It makes you play quicker and exposes any defensive weaknesses we may have. Of course, we are going out to win and believe we can compete. We know we need to play with unbridled intensity and play our best.”

ECU takes on another top-10 team at their place. After a valiant effort against then-ranked #9 Texas Longhorns, the Pirates have another opportunity to make noise on the national scene. But, it won’t be easy. Florida is loaded with talent.

Senior attacker Crystal Frimpong (3 goals, assist) is the top striker and has already garnered SEC player of the week honors in 2003.

The Catamounts are a mix of staunch defense and an offensive looking to find some success. The winless Western Carolina squad has yet to score a goal this season in three contests. The team was blanked twice by 2-0 totals in their losses and then held on for a double-overtime tie with Alabama A&M to gain some points on the slate.

In senior standout Jordan Howell, an all-Southern Conference performer, it is a precarious situation for a Pirate squad that will be tired and a forward who is looking to get back on track.

“Western Carolina has kept every game close so far,” Donnenwirth said. “They are a team that if you get up on them early you should have a good day. The longer they can stay in the game the more confidence they will get. My main concern is fatigue on our part as we need to travel back after playing in Florida.”