GREENVILLE, N.C. – With an eye on reaching the AAC Championship after narrowly missing it in 2021, the ECU lacrosse team will play four games this fall to prepare for the spring campaign.

The Pirates will open the slate with the only home game of the fall, as East Carolina hosts AAC foe Old Dominion on Friday, Sept. 17 at 4 p.m.. The two schools went 1-1 against each other in 2021, with the Pirates taking a 12-9 win in the opener before the Monarchs answered with a narrow 13-12 victory. That game will take place on ECU’s Turf Field and admission will be free for all fans.

ECU will hit the road and travel to High Point for a game on Sunday, Sept. 26. The Pirates will then have nearly a month without games before returning to action at Navy on Sept. 16 and at Duke on Sept. 23.

The Pirates return 25 players from the 2021 squad, including AAC Second-Team All-Conference selections Nicole LeGar and Frances Kimel. LeGar, Kimel and Megan Tryniski all return after racking up at least 30 points all season while goalkeeper Ashley Vernon is back after starting all 24 games in her first two seasons as a Pirate.

Along with the returners, head coach Amanda Moore has added nine newcomers, which includes eight freshmen and Rutgers transfer Maddie Kercher. ECU will be looking to reach the AAC Championship for the first time after a narrow loss to Cincinnati on the final day of the 2021 season kept the Pirates out of the league’s four-team tournament.