CONWAY, S.C. - Old Dominion men’s soccer conceded in the 79th minute and couldn’t find an equalizing goal as the Monarchs fell, 1-0 at Coastal Carolina on Sunday night at the CCU Soccer Stadium.
"Story is we didn’t take our chance and they took theirs,” said ODU Head Coach Tennant McVea. "We were on top for a long spell in the second half and didn’t capitalize. On the road you can't do that. When it comes down to it, we have to be better in both boxes, and we’ve paid the price for that. We need to rebound again for Friday."
Old Dominion (10-5, 2-5 SBC) conceded in the 79th minute after CCU’s (5-5-4, 3-2-2 SBC) Pearse O’Brien received the ball in the box from teammate Alberto de Miguel. He cut the ball back on his right foot and curled the ball past ODU goalkeeper Logan Bellina and made the score 1-0.
ODU had two final chances in the dying embers to fight back a point. The first came in the 84th minute from Jason Purks, he drove down the left wing with the ball and fired a low shot that was saved. The second came a minute later after Micah Wayland got around a Chanticleer defender to go one-on-one with CCU goalkeeper Nash Skoglund. Wayland cut a pass back to the middle of the box and found Lewis Rourke who fired a shot first time at an open goal, but he could not put it on target.
Bellina made a second-consecutive start in goal and made a save to keep the Monarchs level in the 12th minute from a shot by Mateo Cardie. Bellina was called upon again five minutes later after Pearse O’Brien got loose and fired a shot in the box.
Both teams took five combined shots through the first half, ODU’s first chance came in the 34th minute from Rourke. He rose above his defender in the box to track a lofted ball by Purks and loft it over Skoglund, but the Nottingham, England native didn’t get the right arc on the header and Skoglund was able to make the save.
Jacopo Caprile, Ludovico Vicini, David Chapman, Noah Dietze, and Rourke all played 90 minutes. Purks took a quick five-minute breather but played 85 total minutes. Miguel Menendez had a team high three shots while Purks, Rourke, and Alessandro Maldonado had two attempts
Bellina played 90 minutes in goal and made three saves, with the loss his record falls to 1-1. Skoglund made five saves in the winning effort and played 90 minutes for the Chants.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion returns to Norfolk to face James Madison for Senior Night at the ODU Soccer Complex on Friday, October 30 at 7 p.m.