LEXINGTON, K.Y. - The defense of the Coastal Carolina men's soccer team was spectacular from start to finish on Wednesday night, as the Chanticleers played unbeaten and nationally-ranked No. 2/4 Kentucky to a 0-0 draw in Sun Belt Conference play at the Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington, K.Y.
 
The Chants held the second-highest scoring offense in all of NCAA Division I scoreless, as the Wildcats entered the game averaging 2.75 goals per game with 33 goals over their first 12 matches.
 
With the draw, the Chants move to 3-3-6 overall on the season and 0-0-5 in Sun Belt play, while the Wildcats stay unbeaten at 8-0-5 overall and 3-0-3 in league action.
 
The tie was the fourth-straight draw for the Chanticleers, all of which have come in Sun Belt Conference play.
 
"I am so proud of how hard our guys fought tonight against a very good Kentucky team! We obviously would have liked to create more chances, and we will continue to work hard on getting better in terms of having more quality chances as we play down the stretch here now," stated head coach Shaun Docking. "Our goal has been to make the NCAA Tournament again this year. With this result tonight, we are getting closer to accomplishing that goal this year."
 
CCU was outshot 15-3 for the match, including 9-1 in the second half, yet held Kentucky to just four shots on goal for the contest, while also blocking two shots and forcing several others off target.
 
CCU goalkeeper Joey Batrouni tallied four stops in the net for the Men in Teal, while Kentucky's Casper Mols had one save in goal over the 90-minute contest.
 
Lucio Berron tallied two shots for the Chants on the night, putting one on frame, while Marcello Jones added the other shot which was blocked by a Kentucky defender.
 
For Kentucky, Luis Grassow, Eythor Bjorgolfsson, and Casper Grening totaled three shots apiece, with Grening putting a team-high two shots on target in the draw.
 
The high-powered UK offense looked to strike early, as Robert Screen took aim at the goal in the second minute of the opening half, only to see Batrouni come up with a big stop early in the match.
 
The Wildcats fired off two more shots over the next several minutes of play until Coastal's Berron was able to get his right foot on the ball in the seventh minute, only to have his shot attempt blocked by a Kentucky defender.
 
Less than four minutes later, Jones looked to put the visitors in Black and Teal on top, yet had his shot blocked by another Wildcat defender in the 11th minute to keep the match scoreless early in the contest.
 
The rest of the first half would see the Wildcats try to push up on the attack, yet the Coastal defense refused to back down, blocking a UK shot in the 27th minute and forcing another one offline in the 28th minute as the score set at 0-0.
 
As the first half wound down, Batrouni came up big once more in the net for the Chants in the 38th minute, as the sophomore goalkeeper made his second save of the match on a Ben Damge attempt to send the match to the halftime break all square at 0-0.
 
Just like in the first half, the Wildcats tried to strike early but again were stopped at the net by Batrouni, as he turned away a Grening shot in the 52nd minute to give the home team a corner kick.
 
Kentucky again looked to find the go-ahead goal, as Grassow's shot minutes later in the 55th minute was off target, as was his third attempt of the contest in the 58th minute.
 
With the physicality of the match picking up, the Chants refused to give in and continued to turn away the Wildcats' offensive attack, holding the home team to just one shot over the next 18 minutes.
 
CCU's Berron nearly gave the Chants a 1-0 lead in the 74th minute as he lined up a shot from 30-plus yards in the center of the pitch that was punched out and over the net by a leaping Mols to keep the score at nil to nil.
 
Perhaps Kentucky's best scoring chance came in the 75th minute, as the Chants' were called for a yellow card and foul for a takedown just outside the top-right corner of the box. UK's Enzo Mauriz lined up the shot off the free kick and sent it over the goal and out of play to leave the score tied at 0-0.
 
With time running out in the match, the Wildcats began to press and force the attack, firing off shots in the 83rd, 85th, and 86th minutes, only to see two chances fly out of play and the middle shot blocked by a sliding Coastal defender to aid Batrouni.
 
Batrouni capped the draw with a save in the bottom left of the net on another Grening shot in the 88th minute, as the Chants held on to pick up a point in the Sun Belt Conference standings.
 
The Chants will return home to host Old Dominion in Sun Belt Conference play on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. ET at the CCU Soccer Stadium.
 
For complete coverage of CCU men's soccer, follow the Chants on social media at @CoastalMSoccer (Twitter), Facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.