CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College men's soccer team
dropped a Wednesday night contest to No. 13 Coastal Carolina on PC's Senior Night,
falling to the Chanticleers by a 3-0 margin.
PC moves to 3-13-0 on the year and 3-5-0 in Big South Conference
play. Coastal Carolina improves to 15-2-0 overall and 8-0-0 in league play.
The Blue Hose held the Chanticleers scoreless in the second
half but three first-half goals from Coastal Carolina proved enough to give the
visitors the win.
At halftime, PC honored seniors Bobby Keskey (Louisville,
Ky.) and Thomas Palma (Greenville, S.C.). The players each serve as co-captain
and have appeared in every PC win over the last three years.
Coastal Carolina entered the match with the No. 10 ranking
in the Soccer America poll and 12th spot in the SoccerTimes.com
poll. The National Soccer Coaches Association of America and CollegeSoccerNews
both tabbed the Chanticleers at No. 13.
Ignacio Monchetti (Montevideo, Uruguay) led the Blue Hose
with three shots and two on goal. Jared Mitchell (Huntington, Ala.) also posted
a shot on goal for PC.
PC goalkeeper Ethan Watson (Taylorsville, Ga.) played the
first half before Tanner Osborne (Lexington, S.C.) took over at halftime. Each
player made four saves on the night.
Monchetti gave PC one of its best opportunities of the match
with a shot in the seventh minute. Taking a free kick outside the goal box, the
freshman fired a shot that Coastal Carolina goalkeeper Scott Angevine had to dive
to keep out of the net.
The Chanticleers found the net in the 24th minute
as Pedro Ribiero sent in a through pass to Ashton Bennett, who finished the run
with a shot across the goal box to put Coastal Carolina up, 1-0.
Justin Portillo scored for Coastal Carolina less than two
minutes later, taking a loose ball and converting into the lower right corner
to extend the Chanticleer lead to two goals.
The final Chanticleer goal came in the 31st
minute as Pedro Ribiero fired home a rebound off of a Watson save on a TeeJay
East shot from in close.
Monchetti tested Angevine again early in the second half but
was not able to tally his third goal of the season.
Osborne held the deficit at three with four saves scattered
throughout the final stanza. Oliver Nobels (Columbia, S.C.) made a stellar
defensive play in the half, streaking back downfield to interrupt an attempted
cross in the goal box.
PC wraps up its season on Saturday with a road trip to UNC
Asheville. The Blue Hose face off against the Bulldogs at 2 p.m.