CONWAY, S.C. - Coastal Carolina's Ethan Hackenberg scored with just 33 seconds left in the first overtime period to give Coastal Carolina a 2-1 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer victory over visiting Georgia Southern on Sunday afternoon at the CCU Soccer Complex.
The Chanticleers remain unbeaten on the season, improving to 4-0 overall and 4-0 in the Sun Belt. Georgia Southern falls to 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the Sun Belt with the loss. The Eagles will be next in action in Conway, Ark., taking on Central Arkansas at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Coastal Carolina struck early in the contest, tallying the match's first goal in the fifth minute. Marcelo Lage tallied his third goal of the season, off of an assist by Connor Pugh, to give the Chanticleers the 1-0 lead.
The Eagles' Adam Davie followed with a shot just a minute later, saved by Coastal Carolina's Tor Saunders, that would be the best chance for Georgia Southern in the half. Coastal Carolina would lead by one goal at the break and enjoy a 9-2 edge in shots.
In the second half, Coastal kept searching for its second goal, but the Eagles would find the equalizer in the 82nd minute. It would be Davie tallying his second goal of the season, coming off of redshirt freshman Thomas Jackson's first collegiate assist, to make the match even at 1-1. Jackson ran down a cross that went through the box, dribbled back to the edge of the box and sent it in, where Davie hit a confident strike upper 90 to tie things up.
Neither team would record a shot in the final moments of regulation, sending the match to overtime.
In the first overtime period, the Chanticleers struck at the 9:27 mark, getting the match winner by Ethan Hackenberg to claim the victory.
Coastal Carolina finished the contest with a 17-5 edge in shots. Jose Eduardo Bomfim made six saves in net for the Eagles, while Saunders made one for the Chants. CCU had a 6-1 edge in corner kicks and Georgia Southern was whistled for 15 fouls, compared to 11 for the Chants. Coastal Carolina was offsides four times on the day, with Georgia Southern offsides once.
HEAD COACH JOHN MURPHY COMMENTS
"We made a concerted effort to start off the match well today. Even though they scored in the first five minutes, it belies what really happened. I thought we started positively and confidently. Coastal is undefeated and a strong team for a reason, but I believe we gave as good as we got. We were able to equalize late and then we had a great chance in overtime to win it, but just didn't convert. It was a heavy rain all day and we had a pair of scruffy goals to concede, it's tough to take as our kids put everything into it. I'm proud of the effort and the output. But if we continue to play like we did today consistently, I think you're going to see better results. I think we matched up well with Coastal, and we'll get them back in two weeks. But now we've got to get ready for Central Arkansas."
