Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women's soccer returns to the road headed east this weekend, set to face directional rival East Carolina in a duel between a pair of red-hot squads on Sunday afternoon at ECU's Johnson Stadium. The eleventh all-time meeting between the Catamounts and Pirates is set to kick off at 1 p.m.
WCU is unbeaten in its last three matches including a pair of shutout wins over Georgia Sate (3-0) and Gardner-Webb (4-0) and one tie. ECU has yet to taste defeat through five opportunities this fall, collecting three wins against sister UNC system schools including upending NC State (1-0), Southern Conference foe UNCG (2-1), and most recently UNC Wilmington (3-0).
Sunday's Match-Up
Western Carolina (3-2-1, 0-0-0 SoCon) at East Carolina (3-0-2, 0-0-0 American)
Greenville, N.C. | 1:00 p.m. | Johnson Stadium
Live Stats: https://tinyurl.com/532rsazh
Watch (ESPN+): https://tinyurl.com/5n7m88ch
2023 Records:
Western Carolina (13-5-3, 7-2-0 SoCon)
East Carolina (9-5-5, 4-2-3 American)
Quick Cuts:
Recording a point against the Pirates for the first time in seven previous matches with last season's 1-1 draw in Cullowhee, the Catamounts stand on the wrong end of the series with the Pirates, trailing 1-8-1 all-time. WCU's lone win in the series came in 2004 as the Catamounts defended their homefield in the first series meeting played in Cullowhee. Since then, the Pirates are undefeated through the last eight games, though five of those matches were draws or decided by one goal.
Meetings with current members of the American Athletic Conference have been few and far between for the Catamounts, who have only seen the pitch against the Pirates, UAB, Charlotte, and FAU. The vast majority of the 19 matches played with those four opponents came before they were members of the American. The four matches the Catamounts have played against East Carolina since 2014 (2014: 0-1 L, 2015: 0-1 L, 2016: 0-4 L, 2023: 1-1 T) are the only matchups against the American. East Carolina has seen somewhat regular action against the SoCon and UNCG in particular, going 5-4 against the Spartans all time and most recently adding a 2-1 win this season to their collection.
Players to Watch:
The electrifying threesome of Isabella DeMarco, Naya Marcil, and Milla Syska remains a must-see draw for the Catamounts. The Purple & Gold triumvirate has combined for 72 of WCU's 121 seasonal shots (35/65 SOG) through the first six matches. They've also lit up scoreboards so far this season, combining for eight goals, five assists, and 21 total points. DeMarco and Marcil average 4.5 and 4.0 shots per game, respectively, with Syska contributing 3.5 to the total per game as well.
Graduate student captain Becca Campbell has led a Catamount backline that's limiting opponents to five and a half shots per game over the last four outings, holding all four opponents played in that span to only 10 SOG combined while outscoring the opponent 10-to-4 with a pair of shutouts. Campbell has also caught fire offensively this season, thrice scoring and assisting on another in the last five outings. Two of her three goals this season have come from corner kick-set pieces.
While the Pirates are yet to have a player hit double-digit total shot attempts on the season, they do have five student-athletes who have recorded six or more shots to date. Veteran forward Sydney Schnell leads the team with nine shots, scoring twice on five shots on goal so far. Fellow Pirate striker Emma Sheehan is the only other player on the roster to have more than one goal on the season, finding the back of the cage twice in only 139 minutes of game action.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
Western Carolina opens its longest seasonal homestand at four matches next Thursday (Sept. 12), welcoming the Presbyterian Blue Hose to the Catamount Athletic Complex for a 7 p.m. tilt when the Catamounts return home next. Another Big South foe comes calling on Sunday, Sept. 15, in Winthrop with WCU slated to hold its annual Senior Day ahead of the start of Southern Conference play.
League action opens in a big way on Thursday, Sept. 19, in a rematch of last year's SoCon Championship match that was held on the same pitch. With the first 300 fans to the match receiving free SoCon Championship scarfs courtesy of The Everson, the Catamounts look to duplicate both the crowd size – 1,389 – and result – a one-nil victory – when the Bulldogs come to town. The four-game stand concludes on Sunday, Sept. 22, against Mercer in a Sunday afternoon affair.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's soccer and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @Catamountsoccer).
