Sept. 9, 2010

Coastal Carolina (0-2-0) vs. Howard (1-2-0)
Friday | 9.10.10 | 7:30 p.m.
Conway, S.C. | Coastal Carolina Soccer Field

CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina men’s soccer team plays its home opener Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. when the Chanticleers welcome Howard to the Coastal Carolina Soccer Field for the second game of the Coastal Carolina/Adidas Invitational.

Wofford will face VCU at 5 p.m. in the first game of the tournament, while the Chanticleers will take on Wofford Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.

“We are looking forward to hosting three quality opponents this weekend and continuing to test ourselves and to measure our progress as a group,” Coastal head coach Shaun Docking said.  “We are excited to play in front of our home fans and the Coastal Carolina students for this first time this year, and we hope to get a lot of support as we prepare for a great weekend of college soccer.”

Coastal (0-2-0) enters the weekend looking to secure its first win of the season after suffering a pair of losses last week at the Richmond Marriott Classic in Richmond, Va.  The Chanticleers fell 1-0 to Old Dominion in the first game of the event after the Monarchs converted on a penalty kick. 

The Chanticleers were then defeated 2-0 by tournament host VCU in the final game of the classic.  Coastal senior defender Alex Russell and freshman midfielder Justin Portillo were both named to the all-tournament team. 

Howard (1-2-0) is coming off a 2-0 loss Tuesday against Mount St. Mary’s.  The Bison defeated George Washington 1-0 earlier in the year for their only win of the season, and Mario Martin has the lone goal of the year for Howard.

Friday’s matchup with Howard will be just the second all-time meeting between the two teams on the pitch.  In the only other contest, Howard defeated the Chants 3-1 during the 1993 season.  The Chanticleers, however, had enjoyed a great deal of success in home openers since the inaugural season of 1978 and own a 21-7-2 record in those contests. 

Coastal has also been very strong at home during the Docking era.  In fact, the Chanticleers boast a 69-22-8 overall record and a .737 winning percentage at home since Docking took over in 1998. 

Wofford and Coastal will face each other for the first time since 1989 when the two schools meet on Sunday.  The Chanticleers are 4-2-1 all-time against Wofford have won two straight games against the Terriers and have not lost to Wofford since falling 4-1 in 1978.