GREENVILLE, N.C. – After tying the highest AAC finish in program history, the East Carolina soccer team will open the AAC Championship Semifinals against No. 15 USF on Thursday evening.
"We are excited to be heading back to the conference tournament in Tampa," said head coach Jason Hamilton. "Finishing in the top-four for the second time in three seasons is a great accomplishment."
ECU (3-5-2, 3-3-2 AAC) had to sweat out results around the league after finishing the regular season with a 1-0 loss at Memphis. But when the dust had settled, the Pirates found themselves in fourth place in the AAC, earning a trip to the AAC Championship Semifinals. It is the third time in program history that ECU has made it to the semifinal round, having previously reached it in 2014 and 2018.
After starting the year with just a 1-3-1 record, Hamilton made the switch to move Carsen Parker from the center of the defense to center forward and the decision paid dividends as ECU finished the season 2-2-1, beating SMU and Tulsa as well as tying UCF. Parker leads the Pirates with four goals and three assists for 11 points. She is also second in the AAC with a pair of game-winning goals. Madie Knaggs is the other Pirate with multiple goals, having scored three times in her senior campaign. Morgan Dewey and Tori Riggs each have one goal and two helpers while Annabelle Abbott and Cashlin Copley have each scored and assisted once.
On the defensive end, Maeve English finished the regular-season with three AAC Goalkeeper of the Week awards, the first freshman to earn three weekly honors. English is second in the conference with 36 saves and has a .750 save percentage this season to go with a pair of shutouts. In front of English, the quartet of Kim Sanford, Addison Salz, Dewey and Maycie McDougal have started each of the past five games, allowing six goals in that span.
USF (7-0-2, 6-0-1 AAC) locked up the AAC's No. 1 seed with a 2-1 win against Memphis and finished the regular season undefeated by tying Cincinnati 1-1. The Bulls are a perfect 4-0 at home this season and have allowed just four goals, although all four goals have come in the past four games. Sydney Martinez has been a big part of that as the goalkeeper is 19th in the country in goals against average (.424) and 34th in save percentage (.857). On the offensive end, Sydny Nasello leads the AAC in game-winning goals with three and in assists with five. She is second in the league in points with 13 on the year. Paula Leblic has three goals and an assist on the year while four other Bulls have scored at least two goals.
"USF are a very good team, they lead the country in passes completed and are comfortable having the ball for long stretches," Hamilton said. "For our group, we just have to understand the game and not let it frustrate us. We had some good chances last time we played them and just didn't do enough in front of the goal. We have to be efficient this time around to have an opportunity to win."
It will be the second meeting between schools this season and also the second time in three seasons that the two programs meet in the AAC Semifinals. Earlier this year, USF took a 1-0 win in Greenville when Meghan Cavanaugh scored a long-range goal in the 84th minute. That was the ninth straight win for the Bulls against the Pirates, a streak that dates back to 2014.
In all three of ECU's trips to the AAC Championship Semifinals, the Pirates have had to go through the Bulls to reach the title game. East Carolina is 0-2 in the past two tries, falling 2-0 in 2018 and 3-0 in 2014. The Pirates are 2-3-1 all-time in the American postseason tournament, with both wins coming in the 2014 run to the semifinals. The last time ECU reached the postseason was in 2018 when the Pirates drew with SMU 1-1 in the opening round and then advanced past the Mustangs on penalty kicks before losing to USF. With a win, ECU would reach the AAC Final for the first time and also would reach a postseason final for the first time since reaching the 2008 C-USA final.
"Last time here, we lost in the semis and we gained valuable experience getting to play in the postseason," Hamilton added. "Hopefully this time we are able to take that next step of getting to the finals."
Kickoff for Thursday's semifinal is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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