|
Men’s Team Breaks
Through
Late Memphis Rally Spoils Women’s
Road Trip
By
Ron Cherubini
©2002 Bonesville.net
To say that a win
over a struggling DePaul team is huge, might normally be a stretch.
But to the ECU men’s soccer team, the 2-1 victory may be just what
the doctored ordered to a talented yet frustrated group of
footballers.
Behind a flurry of
second-half goals, the Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead and then
relying on staunch defense and good work between the pipes, ECU
found rejuvenation in the form of a much-needed Conference-USA
victory, 2-1 over the Blue Demons.
“This was a very big
win,” coach Devin O’Neill said. “There is a good deal of parity in
the league and any team is going to be a difficult (match). We are
very happy with the win.”
The win, more than
anything, has lifted the spirits of a team searching for answers
after a slow start. With a Conference-USA win, the team is feeling
back in the hunt for a tournament slot.
“A league win is huge,”
O’Neill said. “Conference points are very, very hard to come by and
spots are going to be very competitive to get into that top six
(positions) and the tournament.”
Against the Blue Demons,
the Pirates looked every bit a contender, putting pressure on DePaul
and finding not only two goals, but two good goals in tallies by
left back David Broyles and later, by junior forward Brian Deutsch.
Though the Pirates allowed DePaul back in the game with a goal,
outstanding goalkeeping by R.J. Marvinney iced the game.
“Marvinney made a very
big stop at the very end of the game,” O’Neill said of one of his
captains. “He felt like he needed to come up with one of those big
saves to get a win and he did that. Hopefully that will give him
more confidence and spur him on to a big roll.”
The team is hoping to get
on a roll as well. Despite a 1-2 league mark, the Pirates are
dead-set at making a run at one of those six tourney spots. This
week, there is some personal business to attend to first, before the
Pirates get another crack at a C-USA foe.
“The Wilmington games,
since I have been here, have always been wars,” O’Neill said. “It’s
a local game and both (teams) have players that grew up playing with
and against each other. There is a lot of pride on the line. I
expect another war.”
Though the UNC-W game has
little impact on the league race, a win would be a great confidence
builder heading back into this week’s league match, a road clach
against a tough Alabama-Birmingham club.
“UAB is a very good
team,” O’Neill said. “They are perennial conference leaders and will
be a very, very tough match for us in Alabama.
“We expect two very tough
games. Fortunately were are healthy and hopefully more confident.”
The euphoria of victory
for the men was balanced by what had to be disappointment on the
women’s side as the Pirates saw what was developing into a great
opening week of league play deteriorate quickly into disappointment
on the road in Elvis country.
After a 1-1 tie to Texas
Christian, the Pirates saw a late Memphis rally snatch victory on
Sunday, sending the team back to Greenville at 0-1-1 in the league,
frustrated by not maximizing the opportunity they had to come home
with four points versus the one they collected.
“Overall, we are not
happy with the weekend,” coach Rob Donnenwirth said. “We came away
with one point out of six. We feel more points were attainable.”
Though logistically, the
road trip was a tough one, Donnenwirth said that it had little to do
with not coming away with a pair of wins.
“The travel was tough and
we had a handful of starters get sick on the trip,” he said. “But we
can’t use that as an excuse. We aren’t putting 90 minutes together
and we are letting teams back in the game when we have momentum. We
need to expect more from each other.”
Donnenwirth refused to
mince words with his players and the women know that they need to
re-baseline if they hope to make the noise in the league that they
expected to at the outset of the season.
Post-trip analysis has
the problem residing in the midfield and Donnenwirth plans on taking
corrective measures there.
“Overall, we are getting
outplayed in the midfield,” he said. “We are going to need to
shuffle the line-up in order to get more out of the midfield.”
The Pirates woes are not
limited to the midfield, however, and the TCU game is a clear
example.
“TCU is a good possession
team, but I felt we limited them to mostly shots from the outside,”
Donnenwirth said. “The biggest negative was in our decisions in the
offensive third of the field, which eliminated shot opportunities.”
Thus, a 1-1 tie when, had
the offensive decisions been better and given the talent up front,
the Horned Frogs were a team the Pirates should have dispatched.
And, with Memphis, the
Pirates’ inconsistent play cost them a victory.
“Against Memphis, we had
moments of good play in the first half and took a 1-0 lead,”
Donnenwirth said. “After our goal our intensity level dropped and we
let up two soft goals in the last three minutes of the first half. I
felt we came out hard in the second half and equalized after putting
some pressure on Memphis.”
Lapses in the set play
game allowed Memphis to win. The Tigers tallied on a corner kick for
the win.
“This is much like a
special teams problem in football,” Donnenwirth said. “We have only
scored once off a corner kick. This is (an area) which is usually to
our advantage.
“We pushed a lot of
players forward after the goal and had chances. The bottom line is
we spotted Memphis two goals and couldn’t recover.”
Donnenwirth and his team
will hope that Bunting Field serves them well this week as South
Florida and UAB come to town on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The
Bulls and Blazers represent two solid C-USA clubs and it will take a
much better effort from the Pirates to pick up points this week.
NOTEBOOKS:
East Carolina Men
This
Week’s Slate:
Wednesday, Sept. 25: UNC-Wilmington at ECU, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 28: ECU at UAB, 1:00 p.m.
Last Week:
ECU 2, DePaul 1
Coach
O’Neill says:
“(The DePaul win) gave our guys a good boost of confidence and it
certainly was a needed result. It was nice to get the win there
because every player – the team – was on edge.”
Looking
Ahead:
Former Colonial Athletic Association and continued rival
UNC-Wilmington brings an undefeated mark to Bunting Field today to
see if it can kill the buzz that ECU’s C-USA win over DePaul created
last week. The streaking Seahawks (4-0-0) come in, fresh off a 2-1
road victory over 17th-ranked Davidson. UNC-W has a
dangerous attacker in freshman forward Nick Acosta – who tallied
both goals versus Davidson. Senior goalie Bill Mills is confident
and consistent between the pipes and directs a defense that is
allowing less than a goal a game. Midfielder Matthew Moore is also a
player who likes to get involved in the offense. Later in the week,
the Pirates take a 1-game conference win-streak to UAB. The Blazers
(3-3-1; 0-2-0) are seeking their first Conference-UAB victory and
give the Pirates an opportunity to build on their momentum as the
league slate unfolds. The Blazers have a dangerous scorer in Flavio
Monteiro and Jose Rayo is also a stalwart for the team.
Rewind:
The Pirates got a much-needed victory and it came in the league,
which magnifies the success. ECU and DePaul played a heady, tight
match through the half. DePaul edged the Pirates 12-10 in shots on
goal. However, the Pirates found punch early in the second half,
taking the attack to the Blue Demons. The 52nd and 53rd
minutes were an offensive showcase for the Pirates. David Broyles
tallied his first goal of the season heading home a beautiful
service from Reed Avren on a corner kick at 52:45. Just 43
seconds later, forward Brian Deutsch collected a pass from
Avren – compliments of Broyles – and broke clear for a one-on-one,
which heat neatly tucked into the goal for the 2-0 lead. Then, it
was defense, defense, defense, as the Pirates gave up a goal, but
held on to put the marker in the win column. Goalie R.J.
Marvinney registered four saves en route to the victory – the
team’s 2nd win in its last three games.
On the
Pitch:
Not
only did back David Broyles tally a goal and an assist in the
DePaul win, but his play demonstrated a marked turnaround for the
entire backline for the Pirates. An area of concern, has fast become
an area of opportunity and Broyles exemplified that. If the Pirates
can get the type of production Broyles gave them consistently from
their defenders, ECU forwards Brian Deutsch and Joe
Ellington will get many, many more opportunities…O’Neill was
particularly impressed with the play of midfielders junior Mike
Logan and sophomore Reed Avren. The two mids were amply
involved in the offensive third last week, combining for three
assists.
Sidelined:
Josh Foltz, Jr,
F, foot – likely out for season.
Around
C-USA:
UAB
stunned Tulsa, 2-1 on Monday, when Jose Rayo flicked a header past
the Tulsa goalie with just 15 seconds left in the contest…South
Florida’s Hunter West is tallying goals at a staggering pace. His
hat trick in the Bulls’ 4-2 win over Memphis pushed his point total
to 18 on the season, way ahead of the league scoring leaders. The
Bulls are playing excellent soccer and are among the elite this
season thanks to the talented freshman…Memphis recovered a bit from
its C-USA loss to South Florida by surviving a late rally from
Stetson to come away with a tie. Dan Ronan tallied twice in the
contest to lead the Tigers…It was a week of highs and lows for
Louisville as the Cardinals stunned No. 3 South Carolina early in
the week with a 0-0 tie. However, the team then turned around and
fell to Fresno State, leaving the club a little clueless as to which
Cardinals might show up this week…TCU had a contest that the players
would just as soon forget. Even worse than the score in an 8-1
pasting by SMU, was the fact that the Horned Frogs totally lost
their cool. First, Joe Fields was ejected after a hard trip of a
Mustangs attacker in the penalty box – which resulted in a goal –
but that was followed by the booking of assistant coach Dewi Hardman
for vehemently arguing a referee’s decision…Charlotte continues to
impress, picking up a couple of wins including an easy 2-0 win over
DePaul. Mira Mupier turned in a strong showing in the DePaul game,
leading the 49ers to their 5th-straight win…Cincinnati
continues to roll, mowing down Xavier (3-1) and C-USA rival
Marquette (2-1) for the club’s 3rd-straight victory.
Trailing Marquette 1-0, Bearcats coach Hylton Dayes drew on quote
about perseverance from recently deceased Johnny Unitas to inspire
his club to turn the game around. In turning it around, Cincy
collected a critical C-USA win…The Billikens had little trouble
dispatching of UAB (3-0) in a league contest this week. Though the
25th-ranked Saint Louis club had no problems with the
Blazers, the value of the win cannot be understated as the Billikens
are trying to figure themselves out and live up to
expectations…Speaking of the Billikens, the school will be retiring
the jersey of former standout Casey McBride. McBride, who played for
Saint Louis from 1990-93, is currently a star forward with Columbus
Crew of the MLS and was a member of the U.S. National side that made
it to the quarters in the 2002 World Cup. The two-time collegiate
all-America wore No. 20 at Saint Louis. It will be retired at a
ceremony during the ECU-Saint Louis game.
The Tally
Sheet:
The following table lists the Conference USA scoring leaders as of
23-Sep-2002:
Player
Team Goals Assists Total Points
WEST,
Hunter South Florida 9
0 18
SALGADO, Gabe
South Florida 4 4 12
FLAVIN,
Tim Charlotte 5
0 10
PATRICK, Wiremu
Cincinnati 4 2 10
RONAN,
Daniel Memphis 5
0 10
GUTIERREZ,
Derek Marquette 4
1 9
MUPIER,
Mira Charlotte 3
3 9
THWAITES,
Jeff South Florida 2
5 9
DEUTSCH, Brian
ECU 2 4 8
O’BRIEN,
Dayton Memphis 3
2 8
GRANT, Jelani
Louisville 3
1 7
MONTEIRO, Flavio
UAB 3 1 7
BROWN, Tim
Cincinnati 2
2 6
GREENSLADE,
Reid Memphis 3
0 6
HAYDEN,
Matt Cincinnati 2
2 6
RAYO,
Jose
UAB 2 2 6
REILLY,
John Memphis 3
0 6
ROJO,
Luke
DePaul 3 0 6
TOLOMELLI,
Fernando Louisville 2
2 6
WARGIN,
Chris Charlotte 2
2 6
East Carolina Women
This
Week’s Slate:
Friday, Sept. 27: South Florida at ECU, 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 29: UAB at ECU, 12:30 a.m.
Last Week:
ECU
1, TCU 1
Memphis 3, ECU 2
Donnenwirth says:
“This coming weekend are
must games for us. We are at home and need to make up the points we
lost this weekend.”
Looking
Ahead:
The Pirates face a tall
order this week in hosting South Florida and UAB in a pair of C-USA
games. In South Florida (3-4-0, 0-1-0), the Pirates face a
battle-tough team coming off a heart-breaking loss at Florida State,
3-2. UAB (4-3-1, 1-0-0) is coming off a 4-2 win over Saint Louis and
has some serious offense in Tara Kidwell, Jenny Rynders, and Jill
Knottek. The trio of offensive-minded Blazers have already combined
for 29 points and 13 goals on the season.
Rewind:
The
Pirates saw an opportunity for 6 C-USA points reduced to a single
point when TCU was able to rally in the second half, take the
Pirates to double-overtime and secure conference-opener tie 1-1.
Krystel Pabey converted a pass from Meghan McCallion to
give the Pirates a half-time lead, but the Pirates found themselves
holding off a surprisingly effective offensive assault by the Horned
Frogs, who have won only once this season. TCU tied the game and the
Pirates were not able to find twine the rest of the way. Against
Memphis, ECU again jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Melissa Penney
tallied in the 35th minute for ECU. The Pirates, however,
then gave up a pair of goals and found themselves scrambling to get
back in the game. In the 60th minute, Amanda Duffy
blasted a shot that careened off a Tigers’ player and went in. The
Memphis own goal knotted the score, but the Pirates could not hold
on. Memphis converted a corner kick, the team’s 8th of
the match, for the game-winner in the 75th minute.
Despite an ECU flurry of shots in the final seconds, Memphis held on
and sent the Pirates home disappointed.
On the
Pitch:
It
has been a rough season already for sophomore midfielder Krystel
Pabey. After a concussion last week, she had to have 10 stitches
to close a cut above her eye this week in the game against
Memphis…In giving up the game-winner on a corner kick to Memphis,
the Pirates allowed a team to convert on a corner for the third time
already this season. For many teams, three would be high for a whole
season…Purple Heart awards went this week to Mindy Nixon for
the TCU game and junior Tina Rivera for her effort against
Memphis…Senior defender Unicity Dittmer returned to the pitch
after spending the start of the season on the injured list. Though
she only saw spot action, the team eagerly welcomed her back. She
will need to get match fit quickly, however, as the team expects her
to resume full-time minutes next week…Junior midfielder/forward
Faith Innis also played sparingly against Memphis, which was a
welcome sign, as well.
Sidelined:
Michelle Kmiotek,
Fr, GK, torn ligament in right thumb – 4 weeks
Around
C-USA:
It
is now official. What Conference-USA already knew, now the nation
does. Charlotte is very good team. The 49ers cracked the national
polls this week at No. 17. The 6-0-1, 1-0-1 club is coming off a 2-2
tie to Houston and a 3-1 win over TCU in league play and is looking
every bit the part of an NCAA-bound club. Star Mikel Casey is
beginning to show the stuff that has her recognized as one of the
best players in the league and she was recognized as such by being
named to two different national teams of the week for her recent
play…Tulane senior Colleen Lake scored a goal and added an assist to
lead Tulane to a 3-0 pasting of Louisville in the league opener for
both teams. Louisville recovered somewhat by securing a 2-2 tie with
Houston on a late equalizer by Lisa Martin…Cincinnati survived a
road trip to Southern Miss that included an hour-long rain delay
before the Bearcats took out the Golden Eagles 2-0 to open league
play. The Bearcats then battled to a 1-1 tie with Tulane and now are
5-2-1 on the season…Jill Knottek and Jenny Rynders each tallied for
UAB in a score-fest-of-a-win, 4-2, against Saint Louis in league
play. Billikens’ forward Jamie Perry tallied twice, but by that
point, it was already a 4-0 Blazers lead. The Billikens did blank
Memphis, however, in the league-opener 4-0. Junior Annie Lucier
tallied twice in the win for Saint Louis…In knocking off South
Florida 1-0, DePaul pushed its win-streak to 5-in-a-row. Julianne
Sitch’s goal in the final minute of regulation sealed the victory
for the 5-1-0 Blue Demons…Marquette improved to 6-2-0 on the season
in fine fashion by turning back No. 11 Duke 2-1 in a non-conference
match-up. Senior forward Kate Gordon continues her torrid offense
this season by scoring a goal and adding an assist in the win…Katie
Adams tallied the game-winner for Southern Miss in a 1-0 win over
DePaul.
The Tally
Sheet:
The following table lists the Conference USA scoring leaders as of
25-Sep-2002:
Player
Team Goals Assists Total Points
MCCALLION, Meghan
ECU 6 4 16
ADAMS,
Katie Southern Miss 6
1 13
CARMAN,
Nicole TCU 5
3 13
CRANDELL,
Courtney Charlotte 6
1 13
GORDON,
Kate Marquette 4
4 12
BAKER,
Alison Memphis
4 2 10
KIDWELL,
Tara UAB 5
0 10
KNOTTEK,
Jill UAB 4
2 10
PERRY,
Jamie Saint Louis 5
0 10
SITCH,
Julianne DePaul
4 2 10
MARTIN,
Lisa Louisville 3
3 9
RYNDERS,
Jenny UAB 4
1 9
DUFFY, Amanda
ECU 2 4 8
SIMONSON,
Amy Cincinnati
4 0 8
CASEY, Mikel
Charlotte 2
3 7
CIGNO,
Christie Saint Louis 3
1 7
GRUBER,
Jacque Tulane 2
3 7
HAYES,
Jill Charlotte
3 1 7
LAKE,
Colleen Tulane
2 3 7
WAGNER, Tasha
Cincinnati 2 3 7
WARK,
Melissa Louisville 3
1 7
|
