Box Score (PDF)CONWAY, N.C. – Despite out-shooting and controlling possession for the majority of the contest, the North Florida men's soccer team fell, 1-0 to No. 20 Coastal Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Chanticleers scored the game's lone goal in the sixth minute and advance to play North Carolina on Sunday.
The Chanticleers capitalized on their first opportunity of the game when Martin Melchor headed in his second goal of the season. The play started on a long throw that was flicked on to Melchor who beat goalkeeper
Kyle Nasta to the left side of the net.
With the exception of the early goal, the rest of the game's offense was produced by the Ospreys. Coastal Carolina did not register a shot on goal in the second half and withstood a barrage of North Florida scoring opportunities. For the game, the Ospreys owned a 14-5 advantage in shots with five of those shots landing on net.
"We played about as well as we could without scoring a goal," said Head Coach
Derek Marinatos. "I thought we did a great job of imposing our style of play but we were just unlucky not to get a ball in the net. A credit to Coastal Carolina for getting the early goal but our heads should be held high after this one."
The Ospreys had numerous opportunities that came within inches of knotting the game up. In the final minutes of the game, North Florida's leading scorer,
Helge Pietschmann headed a ball that rung off the right post and Josh Castellanos' close range rebound shot was stopped by Fernando Pina. The two shots proved to be the final opportunities for the Ospreys.
Pina made five saves, helping Coastal Carolina to its 10
th shutout of the season. The team came in to the contest ranked seventh in the country with a 0.63 goals against average.
Senior
Alex Morrell had all three of his shots turned away by Pina, including a close range chance in the first 15 minutes of the game.
"I couldn't be more proud of this team and it's certainly a tough way to go out," added Marinatos. "A special thanks to this senior class, they paved the way for this program to where it is today. Our guys played their hearts out and left it all out there."
The Ospreys close out a memorable season that saw the program's first regular season conference championship, the first conference tournament title and the first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. North Florida finishes the year with a record of 10-7-1, the most wins in the school's D-1 era.
