BOILING SPRINGS --- Ali Al-Gashamy (Kristiansand, Norway) scored his second goal of the season midway through the 53rd minute off a brilliant through ball by Arjun Jung (London, England) to pull Gardner-Webb within one of Coastal Carolina, as the Chanticleers held off a furious second half surge by the Runnin' Bulldogs en route to a narrow 2-1 win to open Big South Conference play Tuesday evening.
Coastal Carolina (4-3, 1-0 BSC) outshot Gardner-Webb (1-6, 0-1 BSC) by an 18-9 margin in the contest, including a narrow 9-7 edge in the second half, as the teams combined for 10 corners and 13 offside decisions on the night.
Al-Gashamy paced the Runnin' Bulldogs with his team-leading second goal of the season, while also attempting a contest-best four shots, three of which found the frame. Jung added his first assist of the campaign on Al-Gashamy's second-half strike, as Matthew Swan (Newport, South Wales, United Kingdom) stopped four shots.
Ricky Garbanzo and Agust Arnarson each found the back of the net for the Chants in the match, as Garbanzo and Michael Millay both tallied an assist as well. Garbanzao paced the Chants with four shots, including two on frame, while Mark Petrus made two saves.
Garbanzo got the Chants off to a flying start midway through the third minute, taking a cross from Millay and slotting the finish inside the near post past the sprawling keeper.
The reigning Big South Attacking Player of the Year would supply the cross on the Chants' second, sending a volleyed ball across the face of goal to a waiting Arnarson, who needed only to tap in the volley from close range to give Coastal Carolina an early 2-0 advantage in the 15th minute.
Garbanzo nearly pushed the margin to 3-0 in the 36th minute, striking a venomous side-footed free kick from 25 yards out and striking the woodwork just inches away from the top corner on the near post.
Gardner-Webb's Craig Swaby (Ware, England) nearly broke onto the score sheet in the waning moments of the 42nd minute, sending a header just over the bar off a corner from Patrick Gurser (Frankfurt, Germany).
The Runnin' Bulldogs came out of the interval with a purpose, dictating the pace of play for the first several minutes of the second before being rewarded with a goal to cut the advantage to 2-1 midway through the 53rd minute.
After Jung made a run into the center from the right flank, the junior midfielder delivered a perfectly weighted through ball into a streaking Al-Gashamy, who blasted the finish into the upper 90 from 14 yards out to halve the margin to 2-1 for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Gardner-Webb kept pushing forward over the next several minutes, nearly netting the equalizer on two separate occasions when Filipe Conceicao (Sao Paulo, Brazil) sent an effort just wide of the post, and Al-Gashamy's bid for a brace was thwarted by a Petrus save.
Swan came up big with two saves within seconds of one another midway through the 76th minute, seeing efforts from both Garbanzo and Shawn McLaws away to keep the Runnin' Bulldogs within one heading into the final quarter hour.
Nathan Rose (Bristol, England) and Riley Shelton (Madison, N.C.) had perhaps the best late chances for either side in the final 10 minutes, each sending a header inches shy of the netting as Coastal Carolina held on for the narrow 2-1 victory.
Gardner-Webb is back in action on Saturday, October 4 when the Runnin' Bulldogs travel to Asheville, N.C. to take on UNC Asheville in a pivotal Big South clash at 5:00 p.m.
