ADA – The East Central University soccer team will start the second round of Great American Conference action this weekend with two home matches at Tiger Field. The matches include the annual Pink Out game and Senior Day.
The Tigers will first host Southwestern, Thursday, Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. for the annual Pink Out day and then Northwestern, Saturday, Oct. 15 at 11 a.m. for Senior Day. Before the match starts, ECU will honor six seniors:
Kylee Corbin,
Lexie DeVore,
Elizabeth Dodd,
Kylee Harper,
Taylor Kennedy and
Lexi Hurley.
The Tigers are coming off a 1-1 week, which included a 3-2 overtime win against Harding. Junior
Deanna Rudasill scored both the match-tying and winning goals for ECU, making it the second time this season she has tallied two goals in a single match. Senior
Lexi Hurley played in goal for the match and picked up her first career win.
Southwestern comes into Thursday's match with an 8-2-1 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the GAC, but will look to improve their record Tuesday, Oct. 11 when they host Northwestern. The Bulldogs have a clear 42-11 lead in goals scored and 137-60 advantage in shots on goal. However, they trail their opponents 51.1 percent to 56.1 percent in shots on goal percentage.
Alimata Rabo and Sandra Nabweteme are the clear offensive threats for SWOSU. Rabo has tallied 15 goals and six assists, while Nabweteme adds 16 goals and seven assists. The duo also account for 54 percent of the teams shots on goal.
Courtney Flores has seen all the time in net for the Bulldogs, allowing 11 goals, stopping 49 saves and earning five shutouts and an 81.7 save percentage.
Northwestern has yet to win a match this season, with a 0-12 overall mark and a 0-6 record in the conference. The Rangers have struggled to get their offense going this year, with a 7-47 differential in goals scored and 44-168 in shots on goal mark.
NWOSU is led by Yazmin Gomez with three goals, an assist and 11 of the team's 44 shots on goal for the season. Briana Legaspi has seen most of the time in net, allowing 42 goals and stopping 101 shots.
The all-time series against SWOSU started in 1998 and have been a tight race, siting at 10-11-2 overall. ECU is 5-3-2 when playing at home, but has lost the last three matches against the Bulldogs.
The Tigers have a clear advantage in the series against NWOSU, with a 9-1-3 overall record and 7-0-2 as league opponents. ECU has won the last four matches and holds a 5-0-1 record at home.
