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NEWS, NOTES & COMMENTARY
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The Bradsher Beat
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
By Bethany Bradsher |
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Soccer hosts Marshall as
tourney looms
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Rob Donnenwirth |
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Christiane Cordero |
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(ECU Media Relations
photos) |
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By
Bethany Bradsher
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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For five and a half hours over
three consecutive game days, the East Carolina soccer team wasn’t scored on
once. That accomplishment was significant, but it would have meant even more
if not for the fact that the Pirates couldn’t score on their opponents
either.
The Pirates, who can finish
fourth in Conference USA with a victory over Marshall Thursday night,
provided fodder for those who might say soccer lacks action by playing to
three consecutive scoreless ties at Rice and at home against Southern
Methodist and Tulsa.
In each of those 0-0 tilts,
the women played for 90 minutes of regulation and two separate 10-minute
overtime periods, all without the ball ever finding the back of the goal.
The hero amid all of those
zeros? Pirate goalkeeper Christiane Cordero.
A junior from Valencia, CA,
Cordero achieved seven shutouts in a stretch of eight games that culminated
in the trio of scoreless ties. For her efforts, she was named the C-USA
Defensive Player of the Week three times in four weeks and produced the
second-longest streak of shutouts in ECU history.
“She’s just been really on her
game,” head soccer coach Rob Donnenwirth said. “She’s just someone who
always feels she can be the difference in a game. And in a few cases she has
been.”
Originally a recruited
walk-on, Cordero earned a scholarship after redshirting her freshman season
and became the starter the following year, finishing second in saves in the
conference. Her presence in the goal has become continually steadier.
Having taken on the challenges
of her sport, Cordero believes her confidence with the intensity of Division
I soccer has increased as well.
“It’s always been a daunting
thing,” she said. “Very few people are satisfied with their athletic career,
especially when you play Division I, because there’s always something better
to strive for,” she said.
That streak of ties and
victories came to an abrupt end on Friday at Central Florida, where the
Pirates hit their roughest patch of the season with a 7-0 loss. They bounced
back two days later with a 3-1 triumph at Southern Miss.
The UCF defeat was ECU's only
conference loss this season, but because of the ties the Pirates still can’t
finish higher than fourth in the league.
That loss certainly stung for
Cordero after five straight shutouts, but she said that ultimately the
Pirates passed the test by rebounding to win the next road game.
Now, noted Cordero, the
Pirates are convinced that their one difficult defeat is behind them with
the playoffs still ahead.
“The whole conference, I feel
like has been staring at us for the last few weeks trying to figure out what
we’re going to do,” Cordero said. “We knew eventually that we were going to
get scored upon, but it was imperative for us as a defensive unit to take
things as they come. With a 7-0 loss under our belt, there’s really nothing
left to be scared of.”
For evidence of the soccer
parity in C-USA, look no further than that stretch of scoreless matches in
mid-October. And even if losses have been few and the Pirates might have
hoped for a higher seed entering the C-USA Tournament next week in El Paso,
Donnenwirth has every reason to believe that his squad can compete with
anyone it faces.
“With the exception of the UCF
game, we’ve been in every game we’ve played,” Donnenwirth said. “Every game
from here on out is winnable, but every game is going to be tough.”
The Marshall game, under the
lights at ECU at 7 p.m. Thursday, is a must-win for the Pirates, and both
Donnenwirth and Cordero are confident that the Pirate Nation will turn out
in large numbers to soak up what Cordero considers to be the best atmosphere
in the finest stadium in the conference.
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