Championship Bracket
CONWAY – The Coastal Carolina men's soccer team will open Sun Belt Conference Championship play against the host team Appalachian State, Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.
CCU (8-7-2, 3-2 Sun Belt) received an opening round bye with their second place finish in the regular season conference standings. The Mountaineers are the sixth seed and had to face the third seed Howard in the opening round of championship play.
Playing on their home field, the Mountaineers (11-6-1, 2-3 Sun Belt) won the opening round action 3-0 over Howard to move into semifinal round action against the Chanticleers.
When the two teams met earlier this season, CCU came away with a 4-2 road victory that kick started their 4-1 record over the final five games of the season.
The Chants got two goals and an assist from All-Sun Belt honoree
Tsiki Ntsabeleng and single goals from both
Danny Cabrera and
Morten Timm, another All-Sun Belt performer, all in the first half to lead 4-0.
Appalachian State did score twice in the second half in 46 seconds to cut the lead in half, but would get no closer.
The Chants hold a 4-2-1 lead over the Mountaineers in the overall series. Surprisingly, Appalachian State has a 2-1-1 record when playing on the Chants' home field and CCU is undefeated at 3-0-0 when playing at Appalachian State. It will also be the first time the two teams have met in tournament play.
CCU enters the championship looking for its third Sun Belt title in the four years since joining the league. CCU won the title and the league's automatic NCAA berth in 2016 and 2017. They fell in the semifinals last season. Overall CCU is 4-1 in SBC Championship action.
Second Team All-Sun Belt player
Tyrone Mondi will lead CCU into action with a team-high 15 points. He has scored six goals with three assists in obtaining his points.
The Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year
Sam Snaith is tied with Mondi for team-high honors in goals with six. He has also added an assist for 13 points.
The Chants have gotten an outstanding season from goalkeeper
Alberto Ciroi who was named second team All-Sun Belt. All the senior has done is produce five shutouts this season with 39 saves and a 1.08 goals against average.
Appalachian State is not without its offensive production. The Mountaineers are the top team in the league in shots (211) and corner kicks (96). The 11 wins App State has this season is tied for the most wins in the conference and they also have a conference-high eight shutouts.
Links for the video feed and live stats can be found at GoCCUsports.com.
For complete coverage of CCU men's soccer, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMSoccer (twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.
