12th-ranked Coastal Carolina tops Camels 3-1

by Stan Cole
October 10, 2012

BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- Coastal Carolina scored twice in a 6-minute span late in the match Wednesday night to deal Campbell at 3-1 setback at the Eakes Athletic Complex.

 

Ashton Bennett scored his second goal of the match in the 74th minute to break a 1-1 deadlock. Justin Portillo added an insurance strike in the 80th minute for the 12th-ranked Chanticleers (10-1-2, 5-0 Big South), who extended their win streak to 7 matches and unbeaten stretch to 11 (9-0-1).

 

Isaiah Page scored his first career goal for Campbell (7-4-1, 2-3), which dropped consecutive outings for the first time this year.

 

Coastal jumped in front in the 11th minute on Bennett’s eighth goal of the year.  Shawn McLaws sent a long throw into the box that was headed into the air.  Pedro Ribeiro nodded the ball down to Bennett, who struck a low, left-footed shot into the right side of Ethan Hall’s net.

 

The Camels nearly equalized in the 14th minute when Federico Bertele dove to his right to stop Page’s header.  In the 37th minute, Bertele was able to tip Jhuvon Francis’ blast from outside the box over his crossbar for a corner kick.

 

Campbell drew level in the 40th minute on Page’s first career strike.  Mitchell Cardenas sent a pass to Francis, who found Page in the midfield.  The freshman from Brampton, Ontario cut back and hit a right-footed effort through traffic into the right side of the net.

 

Cardenas’ assist was his ninth of the year to tie High Point’s Shawn Sloan for the league lead.  A senior midfielder from Mexico City, Cardenas now has 65 career points on 18 goals and 29 assists and moved into a tie for 19th place on Campbell’s career scoring list with Mathew Hooker (15 goals, 35 assists, 65 points from 1993-97).

 

The goal ended a 252 minute shutout string for Bertele and was also the first surrendered by Coastal in league play this year.

 

Less than two minutes into the second half, Coastal nearly went in front when Tevin Skyers sent a right-footed shot from the top of the area just over the cross bar.

 

Page nearly added a second goal in the 68th minute on a shot in the box, but Bertele’s foot save kept the score deadlocked.

 

In the 72nd minute, Justin Franz split the Coastal defense with a pass, but Bertele again left his feet to steer away Bryce Miller’s shot.

 

Bennett rose in the 74th minute to nod in Ribeiro’s left-footed service for his third game-winning goal of the season.  The 2011 Big South player of the year recorded his third multi-goal game of this season, all in league play.

 

Just over six minutes later, Portillo controlled a failed clearance in the Camel box and calmly placed a right-footed shot in the net for his third goal of the season.

 

Despite being out-shot 14-12, Coastal Carolina extended its regular-season win streak in league play to 14 matches after finishing the 2011 campaign with a 9-0 Big South record.

 

Campbell dropped its first match at home this year (3-1) and lost to a nationally-rated foe after going 1-0-1 vs. ranked teams (1-1 draw at SMU and 2-0 win at NC State) earlier in the season.

 

Bertele and Hall both finished with 6 saves.  Coastal Carolina held a 9-7 edge in shots on target.

 

The Camels continue a 4-match home stand Saturday with a 5:00 p.m. kick-off against Winthrop.  Coastal Carolina plays Saturday at VMI (2:00).

Trending Videos
IMG Academy Top 200/150 Rankings
see full ranking:
Boys Girls