Coastal Carolina men’s soccer punched their ticket to the Sun Belt Conference tournament after a crucial 1-1 tie against James Madison University Tuesday night.
“We’re very excited – most people counted us out. We didn’t finish at the top but at least we made it,” midfielder Jaland Larmond, who scored the lone goal for the Chants, said. “Anything can happen at this time of the season.”
Larmond’s goal proved to be the most important of the season, securing CCU’s first tournament appearance since 2022.
The Chants needed at least a draw to guarantee entry to the tournament. Though a win would have been sweeter, the Chants managed to keep their season alive and showed plenty of fight in doing so.
From the opening whistle, Coastal’s offense came out firing, putting up six shots in the first 15 minutes.
The Chants controlled most of the first half, keeping JMU pinned at midfield. The Dukes managed one shot before halftime as Coastal’s defense dominated possession and protected their goal.
Coastal committed to action, even outdoing JMU in early fouls with three going into halftime. The Chants had more than a handful of opportunities to take control of the score but failed to capitalize on JMU’s open defense.
Despite several early chances to score, the Chants could not capitalize. Still, their aggressive play set the tone for the second half.
However, JMU chipped away at Coastal’s defense until a lapse of judgment allowed the Dukes back in the game.
JMU scored in the 20th minute and started to punch back, pushing the ball down the field, keeping it near the CCU goal for a large portion of the game.
Even as JMU took the momentum, and fired twice more on goal, CCU goalkeeper Harrison Gough held the score steady at 1-1.
“I’m glad I can be there for my team, anyway my team calls on me, I come up big. I think we can compete with anyone, and we showed that in our last games,” Gough said. “We have to stay humble, play our game and we’ll get results.”
The match grew increasingly physical as both sides fought for control, but Coastal refused to lose the rest of their season.
“It’s fighting for your teammates to give them the experience of getting to the tournament. A lot of these guys have been here for two or three years and have not had that.” Fidler said. “So, I think it was more about fighting for one another.”
The Chants will enter the Sun Belt Conference tournament as the No. 8 seed and will face No. 1 seed Kentucky on Sunday Nov. 9.
“We appreciate your support. It is going to be a tough game, but it’s tournament soccer and anything can happen,” Fidler said.
