CCU

Men's Soccer to Play Two Games This Weekend

       

Men's Soccer to Play Two Games This Weekend

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Coastal Carolina (1-1) plays its first road games of the season and travel to Greenville, S.C. to participate in the Furman/Diadora Invitational, September 9-11. CCU will play a pair of games starting with Ohio State at 5 p.m. on September 9. Coastal will conclude its road trip with a game against Mercer at 11:30 a.m. on September 11.

Scouting Ohio State

#18 Ohio State (1-1-0) started the 2005 season off well defeating Marquette 1-0 on Friday, September 1, before falling to #8 New Mexico, 1-0 in overtime of the finals of the Ohio State Classic over the weekend. Ohio State brings a strong experienced club with 17 letterswinners and eight starters returning from last years team, when they advanced all the way to the Sweet Sixteen. The players to watch for on the Buckeyes included senior goalkeeper Ray Burse a nine game-winner a season ago and senior forward Kevin Nugent who scored six goals last year and leads the team with a goal this season.

Series Against Ohio State

This is the first time Coastal and Ohio State will ever meet in a match but CCU is 1-0 all-time versus the Big Ten Conference having defeated Wisconsin 1-0 in 1990

Scouting Mercer

Mercer (0-2) dropped both its games to start the season in the Adidas Wolfpack Classic. They fell in overtime to Elon 2-1 on Friday, September 1 and dropped a game to the host school North Carolina State 5-1 on September 3. Mercer was 11-9-1 (6-3 Atlantic Sun) a season ago, good for a third place finish in the conference. Mercer is the pre-season pick to win the Atlantic Sun this season and advance into the NCAA Tournament. The Bears bring back 13 letterwinners and eight starters from a season ago. Mercer is led by its senior forward Del Olaoye who has scored both Mercer goals this season after 5 goals and 12 points last season.

Series Against Mercer

CCU has a lifetime record of 6-0 against Mercer most recently defeating the Bears in 2002 by a score of 3-1.

Getting it Done

Since Head Coach Shaun Docking took over as CCU coach in 1998 the Chants are an impressive 19-5-3 in season tournaments ouscoring the opposition a combined 73-30.

Three All-Tournament Selections

Following the Coastal Carolina/adidas Invitational three Chants were named to the All-Tournament team. The list in order is senior Joseph Kabwe (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe/Sakubva (Lindsey Wilson)), junior Bobby Zimmer (Sugarlands, Texas/Clements) and freshman Brad Stisser (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Highlands Ranch).

A Close Defeat

Coastal Carolina lost a tough 1-0 game to Binghamton in the championship game of the Coastal Carolina/adidas Classic. The game was scoreless in the first half and it wasn’t until nearly 25 minutes into the second half that the Bearcats broke through. CCU would have three great opportunities in the second half include several good shots by sophomore Dominic Rossi (Kellyville, Australia/Oakhill College (Macquarie)) and senior Peter Louis (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands) but BU held on for the victory.

A Team Effort

CCU opened the 2005 season with a team effort victory over Northeastern 6-0. Six different Chants tallied goals. Senior Craig Reed (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) tallied the first goal of the season for Coastal with sophomore Patrick Robertson (Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands) senior Peter Louis (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands), senior Joseph Kabwe (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe/Sakubva (Lindsey Wilson)), freshman Brad Stisser (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Highlands Ranch) and sophomore Dominic Rossi (Kellyville, Australia/Oakhill College (Macquarie)) scoring the next five goals in that order. For the game Kabwe had a goal and an assist.

Chanticleers in Season Openers

With a win against Northeastern to start the season, Coastal Carolina has a career mark of 19-6-1 in season openers dating back to 1978. The Chanticleers have outscored their opponents a combined 70-30 during the first day of the season. The last time Coastal lost a game on opening day was against Wake Forest in 1999 by a score of 6-1. Last season, Coastal defeated Anderson by a score of 8-0 in its first game.

Milestone Victory

The next win by head coach Shaun Docking will be the 115th of his career and his 95th since his arrival at Coastal. He only trail former Coastal coach Paul Banta, who had a record of 166-94-17 in his 14 year career, for career victories at Coastal.

Pre-Season Favorites

Coastal Carolina was picked to capture its fifth consecutive Big South Conference title by the conference and its sports information directors. CCU captured nine first place votes and 114 of the 128 points to finish ahead of Birmingham-Southern.

Hughes Picked as Pre-Season Player of the Year

Senior Jordie Hughes (Victoria, British Columbia/Spectrum) was selected as the Big South Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year. Hughes was the Big South’s scoring leader last season with 43 points on 16 goals and 11 assists. The 2004 All-Big South First Team Member captured four first-place votes and 13 points overall to finish ahead of Birmingham-Southern’s Karim Dietz.

Yes....We’re Back

Coastal Carolina brings back 14 letterwinners and six starters from last years team. Besides Hughes, other starters of note back include senior forward Peter Louis (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands), sophomore midfielder Lachlan Cahill (Kiama, Australia/Kiama), sophomore defenseman Patrick Robertson (Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands and junior defenseman Bobby Zimmer (Sugarlands, Texas/Clements). CCU will also bring back both its goalkeepers Aaron Weant (Morrisville, N.C./Green Hope) and Jeremy Wolfgang (Reading, Pa./Wilson). The two combined to post the lowest goals-against average in the conference a season ago.

Two Chants Drafted

This past spring CCU had two more players drafted into the MLS. Boyzzz Khumalo and Mubarike Chisoni were drafted with the 36th pick and 46th pick, respectively, by the Chicago Fire and the Los Angeles Galaxy. Chisoni joins former Chant Joseph Ngwenya who was drafted by the Galaxy in 2004.

Momeni Among the Best

Coastal Carolina assistant coach Kom Momeni was named by College Soccer News as one of the top twenty-five assistant coaches in the country in the offseason. Momeni is entering his fourth year as an assistant under head coach Shaun Docking.

Up Next

Coastal will be traveling to participate in the Harvard/Nike Invitational. The Chants will start the tournament by taking on the host school Harvard at 4 p.m. on September 16. CCU will finish up its tournament play by taking on New Hampshire at 11 a.m. on September 18.