App State women’s soccer lost to Eastern Carolina by a score of 1-0 Thursday. It was the first meeting between the two teams since 1997 and their first matchup in the High Country.

Before the game, the Mountaineers honored their three seniors on the field: defender Aleesia Ambrosio, midfielder and defender Shannon Studer and midfielder Reagan Sturgill.

“These seniors, along with Izzi Wood, who’s here for the sixth year, have really put a lot of work in and stuck through seasons that were tough at the beginning, and have grown incredibly in every way on the field and off the field,” head coach Aimee Haywood said.

The Pirates took an early lead after the ball was crossed into an attacking position and headed in by forward Alyssa Tucker. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Anna Claire Jacobi was able to get a hand on it but was unable to prevent it from crossing the line.

Late in the first half, App State believed they scored the equalizer when a ball was headed in past the ECU goalkeeper by Sturgill, but the offside flag was raised, and the goal was disallowed.

ECU controlled the first half of the game, totaling 9 shots to 1 from the Mountaineers.

After a back-and-forth second half with no offense generated, the Pirates claimed the 1-0 win over the Black and Gold. It’s the third straight loss for App State after starting the season 3-0.

Haywood believes the Mountaineers have to stay the course and forget about recent struggles.

“I think we just got to get over this one and onto the next; it wasn’t our day today, and it wasn’t our best performance,” Haywood said. “We just need to move on.”

App State heads to Farmville, Virginia on Sunday to take on the Longwood Lancers. The game will kick off at 2 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.