Coastal men’s soccer gets back to winning ways

After dropping the first two games of the season, Coastal Carolina men’s soccer defeated UNC-Greensboro 2-0 on Friday, Sept. 1 in front of 157 fans at the CCU Soccer Complex.

Seniors Martin Melchor and Frantzdy Pierrot nabbed their first goals of the season, giving the Chanticleers a 2-0 advantage for a majority of the game.

Assistant Head Coach Kyle Russell talked about the impact that Melchor’s and Pierrot’s goals meant for the team.

“Both Martin and Frantzdy are experienced players who know how to grind out wins,” said Russell. “I think playing at home helped give them some extra motivation.”

Melchor put Coastal up in the third minute of the game after a handball in the box gave Coastal a penalty kick. Melchor stepped up and scored from the spot with ease.

The senior forward from Jacksonville, Texas, talked about getting those first goal jitters out of the way early.

“I was just focused on putting away the shot,” said Melchor. “I had missed a couple of penalties before this one so I wanted to make sure I didn’t rush it and calmed myself as much as possible.”

Pierrot added Coastal’s second goal of the game in the 25th minute, putting the ball past the UNC-Greensboro keeper after a wonderful assist from Melchor.

Coastal went into the halftime break with a 2-0 lead, outshooting UNC-Greensboro 5-3.

In the second half, Coastal had several chances to increase their lead, but failed to find the back of the net. The best chance came in the 83rd minute when Pierrot had a one-on-one situation with the keeper and his shot went directly at the goalkeeper.

Russell talked about what needs to be in order to fix that for the season.

“It’s a long season and it is a process,” said Russell. “We could have put a few more in the back of the next.

Everyday our goal is to improve and get sharper in everything we do. We will continue to grind and have high standards at practice each day and good things will be a byproduct of that.”

The win on Friday was the first win of the season for the men’s team, having lost the first two matches of the season to George Mason and Georgetown.

Friday’s match is the first of five home matches that Coastal will have this month and the start of a three game home-stand.

The Chanticleers return to the pitch on Tuesday, Sept. 5 for a 7 p.m. kickoff against No. 15 Charlotte. Coastal Carolina men’s soccer will also take the field against for Big South rival Radford on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. at the CCU soccer complex.