Nov. 7, 2014 Final Stats
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The best Coastal Carolina women's soccer season in a handful of years came to a disappointing end Friday night as the No. 2 seed Chanticleers fell to No 3 seed High Point 2-1 in double overtime of the Big South Conference tournament semifinals.
High Point's Jacky Kessler converted a penalty kick with 2:32 left in the second overtime to give the Panthers (12-4-3) the victory. Coastal concluded a campaign in which they finished tied for second in the regular season and got its first Big South tourney win since 2008 with an 11-8-2 record.
Kessler gave High Point a 1-0 lead in the first half, but Rylie Johnson tied it for the Chants with a second-half goal off an assist by Amber Adams. With neither team threatening offensively and the clock ticking down in the second extra-time period, the game seemed destined for a penalty kick shootout.
However, HPU gained control of the ball in the Coastal defensive third and a Panther attacker made a run to collect a pass and was tackled by a Chanticleer defender just after getting into the box. The referee awarded the penalty and Kessler, High Point's leading goal scorer, put the shot into the top of the net. It was the first loss for Coastal in a program-record six overtime games during the season.
After play was kept mostly in the midfield for the first 15 minutes of the match, High Point started to gain more possession and took advantage in the 34th minute when a Coastal foul led to a Panthers' free kick from the top of the 18. Kessler curled the ball around the Chants' wall and over the outstretched arms of keeper Becca Austin into the top left corner.
Coastal just missed on a couple of good opportunities late in the half, but came out strong in the second 45 minutes. Daniella Famili put a shot on net just over two minutes in and the Chants generated a pair of corner kicks. On the second one, Ellie Taylor hit it short to Amber Adams, who took a couple dribbles and crossed it in front to the six-yard box. Johnson timed her run well and headed the ball into the top left side for her second goal of the season and sixth of her career.
Now with momentum, the Chants continued to control possession and put pressure on the High Point defense. A pair of passes by Christina Stern and Kacey Kelley set Famili up for a shot from the left side of the box that went just wide of the right post.
Another pass by Kelley gave Brianna Panico a chance in the 72nd minute. Panico took the pass and carried the ball into the right side of the box alone, but High Point goalkeeper Alex Persiani aggressively charged out and was able to make a diving block of the shot.
The Panthers finally recorded their first shot of the second half in the 73rd minute as a header by Kessler hit the crossbar. Austin then kept it tied at 1-1 with a pair of saves before the end of regulation and one in the first overtime. Neither team recorded a shot in the almost seven and half minutes of play in the second OT period before the foul call.
High Point finished with a 13-8 edge in shots for the game, while Austin finished with six saves. Kelley recorded two shots, giving her an even 100 for the season, the third-most in program history behind Bobbie Parsons, who had 102 in both 2004 and 2005.
Coastal's five seniors - Kelley, Johnson, Christina Stern, Maddie Phillips and Shelby Evans, finished their careers after helping the Chants progress from a two-win season in 2011 to a total of 31 victories over the last three years.
