CONWAY, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina women's soccer team fought to a 1-1 tie versus the Richmond Spiders in its season opener at the new CCU Soccer Complex on Thursday evening.
The Spiders looked to take an early lead in the opening five minutes when Kelly Hutton smashed the top of the bar and the rebound found her head for a second attempt on goal, but Coastal keeper
Vivienne Carr made a diving save to dismiss the danger.
CCU responded when
Silje Nilsen ripped Coastal's first shot of the night in the seventh minute, but it pulled just wide to hold the score at 0-0.
The Chants had their most promising chance of the first half in the 29
th minute when
Tamlyn Parkes rattled the woodwork on a freekick attempt just outside the box, missing out on giving CCU the lead by mere inches.
At the end of the first frame, it was all square with each team taking three shots and two corner kicks apiece.
Coastal came out fighting in the second half with freshman
Olivia Goretski putting the Chants up 1-0 in the 61
st minute when she buried the ball into the back of the net off an assist from fellow freshman
Stella Lawson.
In the 67
th minute, the Chants looked to extend their lead when
Rami Rapp's shot was blocked by the hand of Richmond's Elle Dziadzio to give CCU a penalty kick. Freshman
Eleanor Ashton stepped up to the spot but her attempt was saved by the Richmond keeper to hold the score at 1-0.
The Spiders leveled the score at 1-1 in the 75
th minute when Emma Coleman's cross found the head of Brigitte Bussiere who flicked the ball into the bottom left corner.
The Chants searched for a late winner in the 86
th minute when
Gianna Irungaray's shot was cleared off the goal line in some last-ditch defending by the Spiders. The ball then fell to Goretski's feet, but her shot was saved to keep the score at 1-1.
Both Coastal and Richmond each took one more shot in the final three minutes, but neither team could break through to take the victory.
"I'm so proud of the way the team conducted themselves tonight. We challenged them to be brave and to maintain our identity even when things got hard and they never wavered," stated head coach
Jo Chubb. "We created some real chances tonight and on any other night, they would have gone in. I want to give a special shout-out to the freshmen who played and contributed tonight. They are now firmly engrained in the history of this wonderful team and incredible university. I couldn't be more proud of them," Chubb continued.
"We will take tonight to reflect and to analyze and then tomorrow the group will be back to it, eager to get better. Brick by brick!"
The Chanticleers will be back in action on the road for a midweek matchup versus UNCW on Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. ET.
For complete coverage of CCU women's soccer, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalWSoccer (X), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com
