Men's Soccer Travels To No. 18 Coastal Carolina Saturday Night
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's soccer team returns to play after a week off Saturday night as the Spartans travel to 18th ranked Coastal Carolina for their final tune-up before Southern Conference action begins next week. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Coastal Carolina Soccer Field and marks the third meeting for UNCG against a ranked opponent in the last four games (No. 23 NC State & No. 4 Charlotte).
Saturday's game marks the 16th meeting all-time between UNCG and Coastal Carolina, but is the first contest since the 2006 season. The Spartans lead the all-time series by a 9-5-1 mark. UNCG has posted wins in three straight games against the Chanticleers, including a 4-0 win in 2006 in the last meeting and a 1-0 victory in 2005 in the last meeting in Conway, S.C.
The Spartans, who had their game Tuesday at Duke cancelled due to inclement weather, enter Saturday's game with a 2-3-2 overall record and are coming off a hard fought 1-1 tie against reigning NCAA Championship game participant and current fourth-ranked Charlotte Saturday night. UNCG has scored 14 goals so far this season as it leads the Southern Conference with 115 shots while limiting opponents to 12 goals against.
Senior forward Hakan Ilhan (Stuttgart, Germany/Univ. of Stuttgart) leads the team with 11 points and has scored a team-high five goals while handing out an assist. Ilhan scored the game-tying goal in the 20th minute of action against the 49ers to take over the team lead in scoring. Junior Oddur Gudmundsson (Reykjavik, Iceland/Breidholti) is second on the team with four goals, while Maximilian Schulz (Northeim, Germany/Gymnasium Corvinianum) leads the team with four assists.
Coastal Carolina enters the game ranked No. 18 by the NSCAA, No. 19 by TopDrawerSoccer.com and No. 20 by College Soccer America. The Chanticleers own a 5-1-2 overall record with their only loss coming in double overtime to nationally ranked Charlotte. Coastal Carolina has picked up wins over Longwood, Wright State, Florida Atlantic, Elon and most recently Liberty.
The Chanticleers have scored 16 goals this season while allowing just six goals against in eight games. Coastal Carolina is out-shooting opponents by a 174-71 margin this season with Ashton Bennett pacing the attack with 41 shots. Bennett is tied for the team lead with Ricky Garbanzo as they each have scored 11 points on the strength of four goals and three assists. Federico Bertele has played 510:01 in goal this season and owns 0.71 goals against average while posting two shutouts. Scott Shewfelt has played 277:43 in goal and has a 0.65 goals against average with two blank slates.
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