Coastal Men's Soccer season ends in NCAA Round of 16

The Coastal Carolina men’s soccer team fell to Stanford 2-0 on Sunday, Nov. 26 at Cagan Stadium in Palo Alto, California.

The Chanticleers recorded nine shots in the first half and had several chances to break the deadlock but could not find the back of the net.

Senior forward Martin Melchor had two shots in the first half, with his effort in the 26th-minute being saved by the Stanford goalkeeper.

Coastal would go into the halftime break with a nil-nil scoreline with the two-time defending national champions.

However, the Chanticleers would fall behind early in the second half when Stanford was scored from the penalty spot in the 50th-minute to put the Cardinals ahead 1-0.

Senior forward Louis Dargent had two shots in a three-minute time-span but the senior from France could not get the ball into the net and senior defender Henrik Mueller nearly equalized for Coastal in the 65th-minute. However, his header went inches wide of the net and the Chanticleers still trailed 1-0 in the game.

The Chanticleers kept at it for the remainder of the game but the team could not get that goal that could have possibly forced overtime.

Stanford would score in the final 45 seconds of the game to double their advantage and ultimately break the hearts of the Chanticleers.

While it was not the result that the team wanted, the Chanticleers have much to be proud of this season. For the second consecutive season, the Chanticleers won the Sun Belt Conference tournament and made it to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013. The program was formidable force in the second half of the season, losing only twice since the month of October began.

The Chanticleers end their season with a 14-7-1 record.

To the seniors on the team, thank you for all your hard work and dedication in continuing to make Coastal Carolina soccer a success.

There is plenty to look forward to in 2018. But for now, another season has come to a close.

What a year it was.