ECU Preps For Undefeated Davidson | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of ECU Sports.



    GREENVILLE, N.C.     After a tight home loss, the East Carolina lacrosse team will try to bounce back as the Pirates host Davidson on Wednesday afternoon.

    East Carolina (5-3) went 1-1 last week, dominating Stetson 18-8 before losing a tight 14-13 contest against Niagara. The Pirates will once again be trying to break the school record for victories, having won five games in both 2019 and 2020. Megan Tryniski and Frances Kimel have been the top scorers for ECU. Tryniski has a team-high 30 points on 17 goals and 13 assists. She was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll for the second straight week after tying her own school record with eight points on three goals and a school-record five assists against Stetson. Kimel is right behind her with 29 points on 13 goals and a team-best 16 assists. Leah Bestany joined Tryniski on the Honor Roll this week after scoring a combined five goals and an assist last week, giving her a team-best 17 goals, including six from the eight-meter arc. Rounding out the top four scorers for the Pirates is the reigning AAC Midfielder of the Week Nicole LeGar. LeGar is third on the team with 16 goals to go with two assists, but with her first goal against Niagara, she passed former teammate Megan Pallozzi for the East Carolina school record in career goals, with 107.

    LeGar also leads the Pirates in draw controls with 36, one more than Flynn Reed who has 35. Reed is coming off grabbing a career-best 10 draw controls against the Purple Eagles. Caroline Meininger and Alexandra Giacolone have been menaces on the defensive end for ECU, with each causing 11 turnovers so far. Giacolone has a team-high 17 ground balls while Meininger has nine of her own. In the goal, Brynn Knight and Sophie Bandorick have continued to split time, with Knight starting all eight games while Bandorick has taken over at halftime of each contest. Each goalkeeper has made 39 saves with Knight holding a .424 save percentage while Bandorick's is .557. As a team, the Pirates are 13th in the country, turning the ball over just 12.38 times per game. ECU is also in the top-25 of the nation in save percentage, stopping 47.0% of shots to rank 23rd.

    Davidson (5-0) is off to a perfect start, although Wednesday's game will be the first time the Wildcats play on the road. Davidson will be coming off an 11 day layoff after a scheduled game at Radford was cancelled. The Wildcats have been one of the best teams in the country on both offense and defense, ranking 15th in scoring offense, averaging 15.2 goals per game and ranking ninth in scoring defense, allowing just 8.40 goals with their scoring margin of +6.80 ranking seventh. Erin Cooke leads the team in points, scoring eight goals and handing out a team-high 13 assists. Julianne Carey is the other Wildcat with 20 points, scoring 11 goals and adding nine assists and she also has a team-high 32 draw controls. Gianna New is the top goal scorer, finding the back of the net 15 times while Grace Fahey has 14 goals of her own. Eva Finn is the leader on the defense, causing eight turnovers and she is tied with Carey and Jane DiGregorio with 10 ground balls. In the goal, Amanda Monahan has played the majority of the minutes, making 34 saves with a .472 save percentage. The Wildcats have had success in the draw circle, ranking 17th in the NCAA with a draw control percentage of .562.

    It will be the second all-time meeting between East Carolina and Davidson. The Pirates went to Davidson last season and took a 15-6 loss. Tryniski led ECU with three points on two goals and an assist while Payton Barr had two goals. ECU is 3-2 all-time against A-10 opponents. The Pirates are 1-0 against both VCU and George Mason, 0-1 against Davidson and 1-1 against George Washington.

    The game will get started at 4 p.m., on Wednesday afternoon and admission is free for all fans to Johnson Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ECUPirates.com