Men’s Soccer Defeats Coastal Carolina In Surprise Matchup

While the Flames crashed out of the ASUN tournament in the quarterfinals, they were able to restore a bit of their pride with a 2-1 victory over nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina. 

Though the matchup was not originally on this year’s schedule, the Flames and the Chanticleers added the game midweek, playing April 17 in Conway, South Carolina. 

With Coastal Carolina already playing in its conference championship in the fall, the No. 21-ranked Chanticleers were in dire need of games in preparation for the NCAA Tournament. The Chanticleers won the Sun Belt conference championship last November against Georgia State. 

Liberty came into this game fresh off a defeat to Lipscomb in the ASUN tournament. The 2-0 loss was the Flames first loss in regulation time, with every other loss in 2021 occurring in overtime. 

The Flames and the Chanticleers were old rivals in the Big South Conference, having played against each other 28 times, but this was their first matchup since 2015. 

A free kick in the 18th minute bounced back in front of Flames midfielder Seth Clark who quickly took his chance to put the Flames 1-0 up on the night.

In the 36th minute, the Flames doubled their lead thanks to Noah Holmes beating Coastal goalkeeper Tor Samuels to the ball for what became the game-winning header. 

In the second half, Liberty leaned on its excellent defense. Liberty’s goalkeeper, Danny Cordero leads the nation in shutouts with eight on the year. 

Liberty’s defense at that point had only conceded seven goals, but that tally rose to eight when Coastal midfielder Connor Pugh headed the ball into the back of the net.

Coastal outshot the Flames 9-7 but were ultimately unable to overcome the 2-1 deficit. 

With the win, the Flames concluded their season, finishing the year with 17 goals scored and just eight conceded. Cordero leads the ASUN with a .860 save percentage.

Liberty concludes its season with a record of 7-3-2. Coastal Carolina will head into the NCAA Tournament with a record of 9-4-2.

Luke Randle is the Asst. Sports Editor. Follow him on Twitter at @lukerandle02.