CCU

Men's Soccer Takes On UNC Asheville and No. 8 Wake Forest This Week

       

Men's Soccer Takes On UNC Asheville and No. 8 Wake Forest This Week

Coastal Carolina (4-4-2, 0-1 Big South) men’s soccer team will return home to take on Big South oppponent UNC Asheville (3-5-0) at 4 p.m. on the CCU Soccer Field. On Friday, Sept. 29 the Chanticleers will hit the road again when they head to Wake Forest (7-2, 2-1) to take on the No. 8 Demon Deacons.

The Greensboro Game

Coastal fell to the UNC Greensboro Spartans (5-4-1) with a score of 4-0 collecting their fourth loss on the season Friday, Sept. 22. In front of a crowd of 1,671, the Spartans scored two early goals, the first coming in the 11th minute of the game. Spartan senior Scott Jones had a one-on-one with Aaron Weant (Morrisville, N.C./Green Hope) and took a shot which entered into the left corner of the goal. The second, in the 16th minute, came from a penalty kick which put the Spartans up 2-0. It was a busy night for Weant who collected five saves on the night including a picture perfect save in the 63rd minute when his 6’5" frame dove the across the goal to stop a shot by UNCG’s Jonasson, but wasn’t enough as the Spartans went on to win 4-0.

Series Against UNC Asheville

The Chanticleers lead the series against the Bulldogs 18-4-1 after getting the thrilling overtime win last season in Asheville,N.C., Robert Holstein (Middleburg, Fla./St. John’s County (Queen’s University-Charlotte)) scored on a header almost three minutes into overtime 1-0 to seal the deal for Coastal.

Scouting UNC Asheville

The Bulldogs (3-5-0) have won two of their last three matches and just missed pulling off an upset Saturday, Sept. 23 against Elon, losing the game 2-1. Elon is ranked sixth in the South Region according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Elon scored early in the match but UNCA responded quickly when Barrett Locke, a senior from Tulsa Okla.,  scored to tie the match at 1-1. The Phoenix scored the game-winner with two minutes left. The head coach for the Bulldogs is veteran Steve Cornish who is in his 15th year with UNC Asheville and is the school’s all-time winningest coach in men’s soccer leading the Bulldog program to one Big South Conference regular-season title.

Series Against Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons lead the series 2-0. The last time the Chants played Wake Forest was in 2004 in Conway.  Wake Forest won the game 2-1. The Chanticleers were outshot 15-8 by the Demon Deacons,  Weant had three saves in the loss. 

Scouting Wake Forest

The No. 8 Demon Deacons (7-2) fell to No. 5 Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 23. Maryland sophomore Graham Zusi scored the game-winner off a penalty kick in the 85th minute, to lead the Terps past the Demon Deacons and break a three-game winning streak. The loss is the Deacs second loss to a ranked opponent this season and drops them to 1-2 in the ACC. Wake Forest is coached by Jay Vidovich, the most successful coach in Wake Forest soccer history. He has reached the NCAA Tournament each of the past five seasons, twice entering the tournament as the nation’s top seed and another as the third seed. In all, Wake Forest has captured a pair of ACC regular season championships and posted a record of 70-26-9 (.710) over the past five seasons. He has garnered two ACC Coach of the Year Awards and the Deacs have reached the Sweet 16 three times during that span.