Late goal deals Pirates first loss at Johnson Stadium

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The ECU women’s soccer team was handed its first home loss of the season on Thursday night. A goal by USF’s Katie Kitching in the 89th minute gave the Bulls the go-ahead goal en route to a 2-1 win on the conference opener. ECU begins the American Athletic Conference 0-1 for the second-straight year while the Bulls improve to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the AAC.

Ashley Kendrot gave ECU an early 1-0 lead in the 25th minute when she scored off a rebounded save of her own shot. In the 38th minute, Leah Ferlin evened things up with a header off Andrea Hauksdottir’s corner kick from the left side of the pitch.

With under two minutes to play, the Bulls capitalized on a defensive breakdown by the Pirates. Kitching’s shot from 10 yards out sneaked past Michelle Newhouse’s reach in the bottom right corner of the goal.

Team Records

ECU (5-3-2, 0-1 ACC), USF (5-2, 1-0 AAC)

Scoring Summary

24:30: ECU Goal – Ashley Kendrot [ECU 1, USF 0]

37:52: USF Goal – Leah Ferlin (Andrea Hauksdottir) [ECU 1, USF 1]

88:21: USF Goal – Katie Kitching [ECU 1, USF 2]

Donnenwirth’s Thoughts

“I thought the first half was pretty good. I thought we did a lot of good things. Obviously we have a couple of players out and that shows the impact they make in the game. The second half we weren’t playing smart. The compete level was not good enough and that’s what happens. We did not deserve to win that game, that’s for sure. They outcompeted us in the second half which was tough. We had a lot of new players in the second half, and I said to them – I can deal with some mistakes but I can’t deal with not competing. When you are letting them head balls and nobody is within five yards of them and you’re not tracking runners, that’s what’s going to happen.”

News and Notes

- Thursday’s loss marks the first time the Pirates have lost at Johnson Stadium since Oct. 30, 2016

- Kendrot’s goal was her second of the season

- ECU was outshot 15-9 by USF but the two were even in corner kicks having two apiece

- Newhouse made five saves in the loss while USF’s Kat Elliott made two

- The Bulls improve to lead the all-time series 5-2-1

Up Next

ECU plays its third-consecutive home match when the Pirates welcome nationally-ranked UCF to Johnson Stadium at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 24. The Knights will be the second top-25 team to visit Johnson Stadium during ECU’s home stand.