ECU Athletic Media Relations

GREENVILLE — Sophomore striker Lana Spitler scored in the eighth and 87th minutes to lift the East Carolina women’s soccer team to a 2-0 win over Temple and its first American Athletic Conference victory Sunday afternoon at Johnson Soccer Stadium.

The shutout was the Pirates’ eighth of the season, which ranks tied for fourth in program history with the 2006 squad. Only the 2008 (9), 2012 (10) and 2007 (11) teams held more opponents scoreless.

Spitler now leads the team with five goals on the year, and following her score versus UConn on Thursday night, has now scored three times in the last two matches. Sunday’s strikes mark the second time in 2014 that Spitler has scored goals in back-to-back games, after she found the back of the net at Francis Marion on Sept. 1 and against Davidson Sept. 5.

“She’s a very good goal-scorer ,” head coach Rob Donnenwirth said of Spitler. “We want to give her more opportunities to shoot and we keep telling her that. She’s someone that is very hard on herself so I’m happy that she’s been able to get those goals.”

Senior goalkeeper Erika Lenns made two saves to earn her second win and second shutout of the season.

East Carolina (7-3-1, 1-1-0 American) wasted little time getting the offense going, after a trio of shots inside Temple’s goal box in the seventh minute result in the Pirates’ first goal of the afternoon. The series started with a header by freshman Brittany Fary that clipped the crossbar, before senior Lexi Herring hit a hard grounder that was stopped by Owls goalkeeper Shauni Kerkhoff. Spitler collected the rebound and fired home the game’s first goal into the far right corner.

“I’ve been working really hard lately and the team has been working well together,” Spitler said. “We’ve finally been connecting and it’s helping everyone score. What’s good about this team is that everyone can score.”

Temple (8-3, 1-1 American) had two free kicks in the period, both just 25 yards away from ECU’s net, but each resulted in shot attempts that sailed high over the ECU goal.

The Pirates took their 1-0 lead to the halftime locker rooms, along with a 5-2 advantage in shots, while corner kicks were even at two apiece.

“Honestly, I didn’t think our first half was very good,” Donnenwirth said. “I thought they were beating us to every ball. Temple really battled and they have some tough kids. My halftime speech to the team was that they wanted it more and for the girls not to have any delusions about being up 1-0.”

The second half saw an increase in the physical play of both teams, while each side saw several quality scoring opportunities. Temple attempted several service plays into the East Carolina defense, but could not find an equalizer.

ECU put the game away with just over three minutes remaining when freshman Rachel Renfrow found some free space in the Owls’ midfield and sent a perfect pass onto the feet of an open Spitler approximately 30 yards out. The Montoursville, Pa., native made a sharp move to the right to slip past the final defender before finishing a shot into the right side of the net for her first-career multi-goal game.

The Pirates outshot Temple 13-8 overall and 8-2 in shots on goal, to go with a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks. Spitler and Fary took three shots to lead the way, as Renfrow had two attempts of her own.

Kayla Cunningham took three shots for the Owls, while Shannon Senour and Paula Jurewicz each had two apiece. Kerkhoff made six saves in her second loss of the season as the net-minder.

East Carolina will close out its four-game homestand when it welcomes Cincinnati for its third league match of the season on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.