As I see it, the perfect antidote for the post-Christmas letdown during the last week of the calendar year is taking in all of the “Year In Review” articles and specials. I never tire of the retrospectives, lists and highlight reels reviewing the year that was. I like those features so much, in fact, that I’m going to jump the gun a bit on mine.
Looking back is healthy, and an East Carolina fan base that has faced more dips than peaks in the past twelve months sorely needs reminders that plenty of good has happened since the Tiffany ball dropped nearly a year ago. Since the last two weeks of 2018 should contain very little in the way of breaking news or earth-shattering sports happenings, I am taking an early opportunity to unveil the Top Ten Events in the Pirate Nation for 2018, in chronological order:
- Early February – Lacrosse comes to ECU. On February 10, with a loss to George Washington, a brand-new Division I sport arrived on campus under the direction of head coach Amanda Barnes. With only four non-freshmen on the roster of 27 players, the Pirates finished 2-15 with plenty of promise for the road ahead, including two four-goal games from freshman Megan Palozzi. In 2019 ECU will be part of yet another first — the American Athletic Conference’s first lacrosse season.
—– - Late February – Pirate swimming has record-setting conference meet. Coach Matt Jabs and his men’s and women’s teams made an impression on both the conference and the ECU record books at the American Athletic Conference championships in Dallas. The Pirates collected 20 medals in the event, 10 of them gold, and rewrote history with six varsity records and 39 all-time top ten performances. The ECU swimmers also made a school-record 15 NCAA B qualifying times. When all was said and done, the men’s team finished second overall in the American and the women finished third.
—– - April – Joe Dooley hired as ECU’s 15th men’s basketball coach. April 5 was one of the red-letter days for ECU in 2018, as Dooley was introduced as the head basketball coach for the second time. Dooley, who served as ECU’s ninth head coach in the late ‘90s and found his way back nearly two decades later, represented the hope of new hoops glory to a fan base hungry for it. “I’d like to thank Chancellor Staton, the Board of Trustees, Lee Workman and Dave and Pam Hart for bringing us back home,” Dooley said on the day he was introduced.
—– - May – Both women’s golf and softball honored for outstanding academics. The Pirate women competing on the golf and softball squads remained at the top of the heap in the classroom, as the NCAA announced that the multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) was in the top 10 percent of all collegiate teams for both programs. The most recent APRs were based on four different academic years, but both of the teams earned a perfect score of 1,000 for the 2016-’17 year. It was the fourth such recognition for the women’s golf team and the third for softball.
—– - June – ECU hosts NCAA baseball regional. Early June brought raucous crowds and faithful tailgaters to the Jungle, as East Carolina was selected to host its first regional since 2009. The Pirates’ first game, a 16-7 triumph over UNC-Wilmington, only fed the fan frenzy at Clark-LeClair Stadium, but persistent weather delays and losses to South Carolina and UNCW later in the weekend ended the Pirates’ postseason hopes. The regional gave Diamond Buc players, fans and coaches one more key brick on the road to perennial playoff success and, ultimately, to Omaha.
—– - July – Southside stadium renovation marked by signature ceremony. It would be 2019 before the $60 million Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium expansion would be completed, but in the heat of summer Pirate alumni, trustees and administrators signed the final bright yellow steel beam in the framework of the project and then watched as a crane put it into place. The football season to come would fall well short of expectations, but the milestones on the long-awaited project provided cause for optimism and visions of a stadium once again filled to overflowing with the Pirate faithful.
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True freshman Holton Ahlers breaks free on a 21-yard TD run during ECU’s win over North Carolina on Sept. 8, 2018. (Photo by Al Myatt) September – Pirate football team defeats UNC 41-19. The highlight of a frustrating 3-9 season on the gridiron, the early fall victory over the Tar Heels before a crowd of more than 39,000 fans, gave the Pirate Nation just a taste of what they hope to restore. Led by the quarterback tandem of Reid Herring and Holton Ahlers with 290 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns, respectively, the Pirates seemed to regain the momentum they had lost in a season-opening 28-23 defeat at the hands of North Carolina A&T. It turned out to be just a flash in the darkness rather than a spark that ignited a flame for the season, but taken alone it was a banner day for those who love ECU.
—– - October – ECU soccer advances to AAC semifinals on penalty kicks. In Jason Hamilton’s inaugural season as the Pirates’ head coach, the team turned in a promising 10-6-3 campaign. In one of the most exciting playoff results of the year for any ECU squad, the Pirates prevailed over SMU in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament, making all five of its shots after playing to a 1-1 tie in regulation. In the next round, ECU fell to top seed USF 2-0, but 2018 showed plenty of promise for the Pirates on the pitch. “We have a lot to be happy about and celebrate what we’ve accomplished as a program this year,” Hamilton said.
—– - November – Nate Harvey wins ECU’s first-ever AAC defensive-player-of-the-year. Even when wins were hard to come by for his team Harvey just kept producing, compiling 13.5 sacks and 24 tackles for a loss for the Pirates, leading the nation in the second category. The running back-turned-linebacker certainly discovered his sweet spot on the field, and at season’s end he was awarded the top defensive award by the American Athletic Conference. In addition to topping the national record book in tackles for loss, Harvey was in the top five in five other defensive categories.
—– - December – Christmas comes early with two consecutive press conferences. The Pirate Nation saved the best for last on December 3 and 4, when first Jon Gilbert was introduced as the new ECU athletic director and then Mike Houston took the podium the next day as the new head football coach. Holiday cheer was a foregone conclusion after that week, which put a captain back at the wheel of the Pirate ship and ignited bright hope in the fans.
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