NORFOLK, Va. –  The Coastal Carolina men's soccer team was downed by the Old Dominion Monarchs 3-1 on Saturday night in Norfolk, Va.

With the loss, the Chants drop to 3-4-2, 1-1-1 Sun Belt while ODU advances to 4-0-5, 2-0-1 Sun Belt.
 
The Monarchs got off to a quick start in the first period when William Arnesen ripped the ball into the back of the net after just two minutes off an assist from Michael Eberle to put ODU up 1-0.
 
ODU doubled its lead in the sixth minute when Eberle netted the second goal of the night off an assist from David Strmstek to extend its lead to 2-0.
 
The onslaught of the ODU offense continued in the 21st minute when Jonus Schmalbach drilled the ball into the bottom right corner to make the score 3-0 and give the Chants a mountain to climb when seeking a comeback victory.
 
In the remaining 24 minutes of the first half, ODU took two more shots and Deryn Armstrong fired Coastal's lone shot on goal in the 35th minute but it was met by a strong save from the Monarchs' keeper.
 
At the end of the first frame, the Chants trailed 7-1 in shots, tied 2-2 in corner kicks, and were out fouled 7-2.
 
The Chants were the aggressors at the beginning of the second period taking three shots to ODU's one in the first eight minutes but none could find the back of the net to hold the score at 3-0.
 
The momentum flipped back in favor of the Monarchs in the following 15 minutes when ODU took four shots while limiting the Chants to just one from Evan Howard in the 58th minute, which sailed over the crossbar.
 
Coastal tallied its lone goal in the 69th minute when Ewan Gordon found the back of the net off an assist from Eythor Kjartansson to narrow the gap to 3-1.
 
CCU took three more shots in the remainder of the match with Luc Mikula forcing an ODU save in the 88th minute but the Monarchs were able to hold on to secure a 3-1 victory.
 
"I am once again very proud of how hard our guys fought tonight. We showed tremendous character coming back from taking two early goals against a very strong ODU team. We showed great resilience and determination on getting back in the game and it was very pleasing how well we played at the end of the first half and the whole second half," stated head coach Shaun Docking. "We had a lot of good chances tonight but unfortunately it was not our night. We will move on and get ready for a very good Kentucky team at home next weekend."
 
The Chanticleers with return to the CCU Soccer Stadium on Oct. 7 to take on Kentucky at 7 p.m. ET.
 
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.