CONWAY – The No. 16 Coastal Carolina men’s soccer team used a trio of first half goals in a span of 19 minutes to down Lowcountry rival College of Charleston, 3-1, on Tuesday night at CCU Soccer Field.

“I was very pleased with our effort in the first half,” said Chanticleer head coach Shaun Docking. “It was good for us to have multiple guys score goals. Other than the goal we gave up at the end of the half, I thought we played very well against a very good College of Charleston team.”

The victory improves Coastal to 7-1-2 (2-0-0, Big South) on the season as the Cougars drop to 4-5-0 (0-0-0, Southern).

Just as he did on Saturday night against UNC Greensboro, freshman striker Tevin Skyers made his presence known early in the game as he put the Chants on the board first in the 22nd minute of play. The Spanish Town, Jamaica, native received a pass near midfield, dribbled through the Cougar defense and into the six-yard box. He then made a nifty move to play the ball to himself before chipping the ball high over the keeper to the far corner of the net. The score was Skyers’ third of both the season and his young career.

Less than three minutes later the Chants found the back of the net again, this time off the foot of defender Henrik Robstad. A College of Charleston turnover inside its own 18-yard box led to the score. Robstad intercepted a Cougar pass on the left flank and promptly blasted the ball past the Cougar keeper from seven-yards out to notch his second goal of the 2012 campaign.

Coastal’s third and final goal of the night belonged to Uchenna Uzo. Justin Portillo’s 41st minute free kick into the box was initially headed down by Pedro Ribeiro before Uzo slotted it home. Uzo now has two goals this season on just nine shot attempts.

College of Charleston would not go away quietly as the Cougars found a goal of their own in the 42nd minute to cut their deficit to 3-1. Sam Redmond played a through ball ahead to Luke Huggett inside the box, who finished the play with a shot just inside the near post.

The teams were unable to keep up their first half fireworks after the break. Neither side was able to gain much of an advantage in the very physical second half as both defensive lines tightened and held fast.

Coastal finished the match with a commanding 18-8 shot advantage after holding a 12-3 lead at the break. Both Coastal’s Federico Bertele and College of Charleston’s Kees Heemskerk recorded three saves.

Coastal returns to the field and conference play on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 3:30 p.m. against Presbyterian College. The match is the second of a doubleheader with the women’s team. The Chanticleer women take on Longwood in a Big South match at 1 p.m.

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