Last Second Defeat: Late Goal Pushes #12 Coastal Carolina to 1-0 Win over Gardner-Webb
September 29, 2013 | Men's Soccer
Conway, S.C. - In what was a tale of two halves, the Gardner-Webb men's soccer team surrendered a late goal in the 87th minute to fall at #12 Coastal Carolina 1-0 in Big South Conference play on Saturday night in Conway, S.C.
Coastal Carolina outshot the Runnin' Bulldogs 13-1 in the second half and saw a blocked shot bounce back to Jakub Stourac who fired a second shot which sailed just inside the far post in the 87th minute for the game-winner.
The loss drops GWU to 4-4-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the Big South, while #12 Coastal improves to 6-2-0 overall and 2-0-0 Big South with the win.
GWU, which tallied five shots on the match, was led by Ali Al-Gashamy who tallied two shots on the night, while Iman Mafi, Brooks Asger and Satoshi Tatsumi all recorded one shot on the night with Mafi's and Tatsumi's both being on goal.
For Coastal, Pedro Ribeiro led the way with four shots, two of which were on frame, while Sergio Camargo came off the bench to registered three shots, one of which was on goal.
Gardner-Webb goalkeeper Matthew Swan recorded six saves on the night, five of which came in the second half of play, as the Chanticleers totaled 15 shots overall for the match.
The Runnin' Bulldogs, who outshot the home team 4-2 in the opening half, posted the first two shots of the match in the early minutes as Al-Gashamy saw his first shot attempt fly wide of the goal in the fourth minute, while Asger's shot sailed over the crossbar and goal in the 12th minute.
Coastal's Ribeiro looked to put the home team on the scoreboard first in the 15th minute, however, GWU's Swan was up for the challenge, making the stop for his first save of the match which kept the bout in a scoreless tie.
After the Chants Justin Portillo's shot went wide in the 33rd minute, GWU followed with perhaps its best scoring chance of the night minutes later as Mafi put a shot on target which was saved by Coastal Carolina goalkeeper Devin Cook in the 37th minute.
Gardner-Webb's Tatsumi put a last second shot on frame in the 45th minute just before the half, only to again see Cook make a stop on the play and send the match into halftime tied at 0-0.
The second half saw a clear momentum change, as well as a change in pace, as the Chanticleers tallied 13 shots to GWU's one over the final 45 minutes of play.
Swan was tested in the early minutes of the second half, as Camargo and Ricky Garbanzo each put a shot on line in the 52nd minute which were both halted by the GWU freshman keeper.
After Swan made two more saves over the next five minutes of play, the GWU defensive backline came to his aid, blocking two of the Chanticleers' next three shot attempts to keep the score tied at 0-0 through 70 minutes of play.
Weathering the Coastal offensive surge, Swan made another big save on a Ridge Robinson shot attempt in the 73rd minute to keep the Runnin' Bulldogs in the match.
Minutes later, Al-Gashamy got free and fired off a shot attempt, yet it sailed wide and out of play in the 74th minute.
Coastal Carolina misfired on its next three scoring chances, all of which were high, as time ticked away in regulation.
However, the Chants finally broke through in the 87th minute, as the home team's Stourac blasted a shot towards the goal which was blocked by a GWU defender. The rebound bounded back to the foot of Stourac who then reloaded and fired a second shot which went low and just inside the far post to put the Chanticleers on top 1-0. The goal was the first of the season for Stourac.
The final three minutes would tick away on the game clock with neither team able to put together another scoring chance, as the Chanticleers held on for the 1-0 home win.
Both teams tallied 10 fouls apiece, while Coastal held on to a slight 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.
GWU has now lost two straight matches, both of which came to nationally ranked foes in #17 Furman and #12 Coastal Carolina.
Gardner-Webb (4-4-0, 1-1-0 Big South) will return home to host the N.C. State Wolfpack on Tuesday night, October 1st, at 7 p.m. at Greene-Harbison Field. Coastal (6-2-0, 2-0-0 Big South) will return to the pitch on Saturday, October 5th, when the Chanticleers will take on the High Point Panthers at 7:30 p.m. in High Point, N.C.
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| Box Score: #12 Coastal 1, Gardner-Webb 0 |
