Cougars Win Opener

Tonight we opened up our 2009 season with a 4-3 defeat against Coastal Carolina at Patriots Point in front of a tremendous crowd of 1,200!

The match was a little sloppy and a tale of two halves. The first half saw the Cougars jump out to an early lead five minutes into the match off a goal by Sean Flatley. With less than 10 minutes left in the first half, Zach Prince took on two defenders and served a low cross that was met by Steven Nagy to push the score to 2-0. Throughout the majority of the first half, Charleston maintained the majority of possession and outshot the Chanticleers 8-2.

The beginning of the second half started well, as Kareem Yearwood finished a penetrating thru pass by Jake Helmig five minutes in to make it 3-0. Coastal Carolina did an excellent job of maintaining their focus and picked up the pressure on the Charleston defense. This pressure led to two penalties, both converted by Riley Phelps. At 3-2, John Bello tucked in a brilliant one touch pass from Prince to make the score 4-2. Coastal would not go away, as they answered with another Phelps goal with 10 minutes remaining.

"In the first half, we were very focused and we did a terrific job on both sides of the field," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "You have to give Coastal a lot of credit for not giving up after being down 3-0. I thought we lost our focus, but regardless if it's 4-0 or 4-3, it's a win and it's a great way to start the season."