Nov. 14, 2010
Box Score
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Coastal Carolina senior Joe Anderson turned in his first career hat trick in leading the Chanticleers to the NCAA Tournament following their 3-1 win over top-seeded High Point in the Big South Tournament championship game Sunday afternoon from Vert Stadium.
Coastal Carolina defeated No. 7 VMI, No. 3 Gardner-Webb and No. 1 High Point to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It's the eighth time in school history the Chanticleers have reached the NCAA Tournament and the first appearance since 2005.
It was also the 12th win of the season for Coastal Carolina to mark the most wins in a season since the 2004 team finished with an overall record of 14-8-1.
The Chanticleers took an early 1-0 lead just 5:50 into the match when Anderson and Luis Faz hooked up off a set piece. Faz sent a cross into the Panther box and Anderson fired a header past keeper Michael Chesler for this third goal of the season.
Anderson struck again in the 17th minute with an unassisted goal to put Coastal ahead 2-0. Anderson controlled a loose ball inside the Panther box that had deflected off of Chesler and sent a shot off the post and into the back of the net.
High Point (16-4-1) cut the Coastal lead in half minutes into the second half when Shawn Sloan netted a penalty kick for his eighth goal of the season.
In the 85th minute, Anderson completed the hat trick with a penalty kick of his own to become the first Coastal player since Riley Phelps in 2009 to score three goals in the same game. It was also just the second time this season High Point had allowed an opponent to score three goals.
The two penalty kicks resulted from a very physical match that featured 58 total fouls.
Coastal keeper Scott Angevine made two saves and picked up his 12th win of the season. The Kansas City, Kan., native allowed just one goal over the course of the tournament.
"We beat a very good team that had a fantastic season that featured some very exciting players up front," Coastal Carolina head coach Shaun Docking said. "The reason we won today was because of the play of our seniors. We had four seniors in the back today and they did a great job against High Point's offense. I am so proud of the effort our guys gave today and we are very excited about playing in the NCAA Tournament."
Coastal finished the game with eight shots, but was a perfect 3-for-3 in shots on goal. High Point featured 14 shots and three shots on goal.
The Chanticleers will learn their opponent and game time Monday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. when the tournament field is revealed on ESPNU.
