LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. – It took two overtimes and five rounds of penalty kicks but when it was all over the #3 East Carolina soccer team upset #2 South Florida 1-1 (5-3 PKs) in the American Athletic Conference Semifinal Round on Thursday afternoon at the Premier Sports Campus.
With the win, the Pirates advance to their first-ever AAC title game on Sunday.
We don’t ask how; we just ask the result. The Pirates were outshot by South Florida 27 to 11. South Florida earned 11 corners to ECU’s two. But even after a 57th-minute goal by Anna Sutter, the Pirates (9-3-7, 5-2-3 AAC) still found themselves down by just one goal.
South Florida (12-2-5, 6-1-3 AAC) had many chances to put it away but were unable to do so, resulting in the game being a single score away from level when Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram served a ball up from the right side of the pitch in the 84th minute. The pass found Sydney Schnell whose initial shot found the left post but remaining in play, directing back towards the center of the goal where the senior forward was able to get behind Bulls keeper Leire Herraez Gallach and put a foot to the ball and into the net.
Schnell’s goal was her career-best, team-leading seventh of the season. More importantly, with 6:24 remaining, it gave the Pirates life. A fighting crack was all they ever needed and the ever-competitive ECU defense, along with the stellar play of Maeve English was able to usher the game into overtime.